Big rig hits PT Cruiser

A USC Aiken freshman died in a two-vehicle crash Tuesday after she pulled out in front of an oncoming tractor trailer that slammed into her driver's side door and forced her vehicle into the wood line along Highway 19.

Alissa Rose McCarty of Monetta was 18 years old, said Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 2008 Wardlaw Academy graduate, she was a full-scholarship student at the university.

The Monetta teenager was driving a 2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser east on Croft Mill Road shortly before 3 p.m. When attempting to make a left-hand turn, she failed to yield the right of way to a southbound 2006 Freightliner tractor trailer on Highway 19.

The truck was driven by 49-year-old Max Carter of Dyersburg, Tenn.

Witnesses said the traffic signal was blinking red on the Croft Mill Road side of traffic, and yellow on Highway 19 prior to the crash.

The truck driver told officials he braked before the Cruiser pulled out, saying that the car in front of the Cruiser had pulled out in front of the tractor trailer first.

Carlton said the teenager may have seen the car in front of her pull into the roadway.

"She may have thought she had a green light," he added.

She suffered multiple body trauma and died at the scene.

Both motorists were wearing seat belts.

The crash stopped traffic for about a half hour while crews worked to pull the vehicles from the wooded area near the roadway. When traffic did begin to move again, motorists traveled through the area slowly.

Wardlaw Academy Headmaster Ben Couch said the recent honor graduate was an excellent student who made straight A's. She was No. 3 in her class.

"We have our good students tutor the younger elementary students who are struggling," Couch said. "She did quite a bit of that. She was a hard worker and very religious in her church."

Marshall Davis, a USCA academic adviser, said he had just met with the teenager earlier in the day.

"It's so unbelievable," he said. "She had such a kind and sweet spirit, just one of the sweetest people. I'm always looking for someone who gets what you're saying, and that was Alissa. She always responded to what I was saying, even smiling at my silly jokes."

This is the 26th fatal traffic crash this year in Aiken County.

This crash is being investigated by South Carolina Highway Patrol and the Aiken County Coroner's Office.

McCarty was an organ donor.

Contact Karen Daily at kdaily@aikenstandard.com.