According to GSP troopers, around 2:30 a.m. on the morning of June 13, a 20-year-old man apparently rear-ended another car in the southbound lanes, disabling the second vehicle. Its four occupants, a woman and her son and daughter, along with the son’s spouse, exited the vehicle to seek shelter on the side of the road. What followed was best described as a pileup as three more cars became involved in the crash.
It is not clear at what point the two women were struck by one of these vehicles, or even which vehicle killed them. However, one of the women was transported to a hospital before being pronounced dead, while the other was killed at the scene. Several other people were also transported to hospitals with varying injuries, and the 20-year-old driver now faces DUI charges.
Drunk driving is an easily preventable cause for a car accident, which is why Georgia laws require stringent criminal consequences for the behavior. If this man is found guilty, he could face the loss of his license as well as jail time. Separately, even if the man is not convicted, the victims and their families are all entitled under state law to file civil suits including personal injury and wrongful death against him.
