Exxon on the Charleston highway has no more pumps after cars continue to crash into business.
CAYCE, SC – After a car accident on May 22, c Exxon on the Charleston Highway in Casey, there are no more gas stations for customers to use.
Since 2017, 5 different cars have collided at the gas station in their business, removing all four of their gas pumps.
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Maintenance officer Steve Galloway said he witnessed the latest crash and called it horrific.
“I was about to get off my bike and saw the car go out of shape and cross the white lines,” Galloway recalled. I saw him approaching and thought “no, no, no” and then a boom. I approached and saw the lady inside slipping and smoke began to come out of the car. I called them to turn off the pump and someone to call an ambulance. “
Al-Murrell, a gas station and car wash owner, says the station has a lot of petrol but can’t sell it.
“We’re a gas station here and there’s no way we can give it to people,” Merle said.
The gas station says it will cost more than $ 125,000 to replace all the pumps.
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Murrell says the roads changed in 2016 with the development of Walmart just across the street. He says the northern curve of the Charleston Highway used to be two lanes, but with the addition of an intersection, a curb and a turn lane, he says drivers are often confused and tend to drive too fast through the area.
In 2019, a car crashed into a limousine that had been parked in front of his business for years. He now uses it as a barrier to his business and a warning to other drivers.
“I currently have a 20-foot and a 30-foot limousine, but my thing is that I don’t have to spend my own money to put up barriers to prevent cars from crashing into the property,” Merrell explained.
The state transportation department says it plans to review crash data before and after the intersection in 2016. They also plan to add additional signs to the existing median to highlight the shape of the curve.
Meanwhile, employees at the gas station and car wash are asking drivers to reduce their speed.
SCDOT did not give us a timeline for when the signs will rise around the curve. The owners of the Exxon gas station hope to receive a new gas station by July.