SOCASTEE, SC (WMBF) – A local family is asking for safety changes, after witnessing the second fatal accident in their backyard in just two years.
Christy Harter can't remember what made her walk outside on Saturday night. She just had a weird feeling, and stepped out onto her porch.
"The car was smooth, I couldn't hear the engine. All I heard was the tires and saw the headlights," recalls Christy Harter, a resident near the boat launch at the end of Peachtree Road.
She watched in horror as 65 year old Linda Graham drove her car off the end of Peachtree Road, right near the boat ramp, and into the water.
"The next thing I heard was the bottom of the car scraping the pavement, before the car was launched out into the water," says Ms. Harter.
Ms. Harter immediately ran inside, told her mom to call 911, and then ran next door to a neighbor's house, asking for help.
"You feel helpless, you can't jump into the water, you don't know where the car is. It didn't stay emerged very long," says Karen Harter, Christy's mom.
Christy pointed her headlights into the water, trying to find the car.
"At that point, there was nothing I could do," says Ms.Harter
She watched as emergency responders dove into the water.
"There were ambulances, police, a dive team. They were all here in respectable time, but no matter how fast they get here, its not fast enough," says Ms.Harter.
The 65 year old Socastee woman was dead inside her car when responders were able to pull it out of the water. Autopsy results show she died from drowning.
This isn't the first time the family has witnessed a fatal accident on this dead end road.
"Two deaths in just two years, it's awful," expresses Ms. Harter.
In 2010, Christy's husband dove into the water to save a trapped driver in the exact spot that Linda Graham lost her life on Saturday night.
"It tears your heart out, even though you don't know them you still feel for them," says Mrs. Harter.
He was unable to save the other passenger in the car. It is a memory that still haunts the family.
"There's no reason for that, for a loss like that, If there's something that can be done to prevent it," says Mrs. Harter.
The family wants something done now to stop these accidents from happening so close to their home.
"We should have strips down, a few rumble strips. I don't know if it will help all, but it might help a few," suggests Ms. Harter
"We need to speak to people about getting something done, this is too extreme," agrees Mrs. Harter.
They are writing into the county and the Department of Transportation for help.
"Something has to be done, I'll do what I can, do my best. But this is awful," says Mr. Harter.
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