Deadly 7-vehicle crash blamed on I-85 ‘death trap’ traffic pattern near Gaffney, SC Mark Price, The Charlotte Observer A “death trap” traffic pattern on Interstate 85 is being blamed for a seven-vehicle crash that killed three people near Gaffney, South Carolina, according to Cherokee County officials. The three dead include a South Carolina couple and woman from Virginia, Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler said in a release. It happened around 3:20 p.m. Thursday in a single-lane “chute” that diverts traffic around a construction project, Fowler said. The seven drivers were southbound in the “chute” when a chain reaction of rear-end collisions began.