2 hurt in I-85 crash
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, May 25, 2016
HOGANSVILLE — For the second day in a row a two vehicle collision closed down both northbound lanes of Interstate 85 near the Hogansville exit.
Two people were seriously hurt just before 7 p.m. Tuesday when the van they were riding in hit the back of a tractor-trailer just south of the exit ramp, Georgia State Patrol officials stated.
The tractor-trailer was traveling in the right lane and started to slow down for traffic ahead due to another fiery crash involving a semi at the Meriwether and Coweta counties border, said Trooper Brad Walker.
The driver of the van was behind the tractor-trailer and did not realize the rig was slowing down until it was too late, Walker said. He tried to move into the left lane to avoid a collision, but the right side of the van smashed into the left edge of the semi.
The impact was so great, the roof of the van was ripped almost completely off the vehicle, Walker said. At least one of the passengers was ejected into the road, even though he was wearing his seat belt. The force of the collision broke the seat belt free from the van, Walker said.
The two people inside the van, only identified as a father and his son, were flown to area hospitals for treatment.
Their conditions were unavailable at press time this morning.
This was the second wreck to occur in almost the same spot, about the same time, in two days
Five people were injured Monday just before 7 p.m. in the northbound lanes of I-85 near Hogansville, according GSP officials.
An Infiniti Q60 sedan traveling at a high rate of speed in the left lane smashed into the back of a trailer hauled behind a Chevrolet Express van, said troopers.
The collision caused both vehicles to overturn into the median.
The driver of the Infiniti was taken by helicopter to Grady hospital in Atlanta, GSP officials stated.
The passenger in that car and three people in the van were taken to area hospitals for treatment.