A Calhoun woman has received an indictment after a May 23 car accident that allegedly involved drunk driving and killed a pedestrian. The Gordon County grand jury issued the indictment after a 50-year-old woman struck a 65-year-old woman in a residential neighborhood while the victim was at a mailbox. According to the deceased's daughter, her mother, who was from Augusta, went to the mailbox at around 11:30 a.m. The woman was on the side of the road at the mailbox on Blackwood Place when a Dodge Neon SXT struck her. The Dodge arrived on Blackwood from Ga. Highway 53, and a Georgia State Patrol's incident report indicated that the vehicle was traveling at a fast speed. After the impact, the pedestrian sent her about 52 feet into the air. The Augusta woman was airlifted to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga but died at the hospital. After the crash, the Dodge traveled…

A married couple traveling south on Interstate 75 near Adairsville suffered fatal injuries after their vehicle was rear-ended on the highway. According to authorities, the Oct. 30 accident occurred around 9 p.m. Reportedly, that is when a 2008 BMW struck the rear of the couple's 2004 Ford Explorer, causing the SUV to careen down an embankment adjacent to the roadway. Officials at the scene of the crash declared both the husband and the wife dead. The driver of the BMW, a 50-year-old man, was detained following the crash on suspicion of impaired driving. According to the Georgia State Patrol, multiple charges may be filed against the man. If the GSP investigation were to reveal that the driver of the BMW was in fact intoxicated at the time of the incident involving the married couple, then he may face more than just criminal repercussions. In addition, he might also be named…

One person was killed and another was injured in an accident in Warner Robins on Oct. 8. The driver responsible for the crash ran a red light at what appears to be high speed, causing the fatal accident. Police report that around 9:15 a.m., a 22-year-old Warner Robins woman was making a left turn from Burns Drive onto Russell Parkway when her 2002 Mazda Tribute was hit by a 2000 Ford F250 pickup truck, driven by a 34-year-old Perry man, that had just run a red light. The Mazda had the green light for the turn at the time of the accident. The skid marks from the Ford at the scene began before the stop line of the traffic light. The Mazda crashed into a barrier protecting some nearby gas pumps, and the driver's side seating area and the back of the car were crushed. The pickup truck stopped on…

  While Georgia prohibits adults who are behind the wheel of a motor vehicle from a specific type of cellphone use, texting, many states have enacted bans on cellphone use altogether while driving. In large part, the reason that lawmakers in Georgia and other states enacted these bans is the troubling correlation between cellphone use while driving and traffic accidents resulting in death or injuries, as expounded by various statistics and studies. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving can be a mortal mistake. Reportedly, distracted drivers caused 18 percent of deadly traffic accidents throughout the country in 2010. In this way, distracted driving was responsible for the deaths of 3,092 people in total. In that same year, 2010, crashes attributed to distracted driving caused 416,000 people to suffer injuries, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports. A Pew survey indicates that four out of every 10…

A man was killed in Atlanta on the morning of August 31 when his vehicle was hit by a suspected drunk driver as he was driving home. According to authorities, his car was hit head-on at the intersection of Neal Street NW and Joseph E. Lowery Street by a car operated by a 41-year-old woman. The woman was headed north on Neal when the collision took place. She was charged with first-degree homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence of alcohol, improper turn and reckless driving. As evidenced by this incident, alcohol sometimes plays a role in fatal accidents. Other factors in fatal accidents might include distracted driving, from the use of a cellphone for talking or texting, reckless driving and road and weather conditions. While some of these factors are out of a driver's control, some, such as speeding and using a cellphone, can be used to show that a…

Police released details from a two-vehicle accident that took place in Glennville and left three people, including a local soldier who was based at Fort Stewart, dead. The Georgia State Patrol said the crash occurred around 12:20 a.m. on Aug. 7 when one of the vehicles crossed the center line and collided head on with the other vehicle. The soldier, who was the driver of the vehicle that was hit, was killed in the accident. The 33-year-old driver and a 20-year-old passenger in the vehicle that allegedly caused the collision were also killed. A third passenger in the same vehicle was taken by helicopter to a local hospital for treatment. Police investigators took a blood-alcohol sample from the driver who is believed to have triggered the collision. The family members of someone who was killed in a car accidentcaused by another driver's reckless or negligent actions may wish to file a…

A 400m runner who took part in the IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas on May 24 died in a car accident on the morning of July 28, authorities reported. According to the report, the 25-year-old University of Georgia track star helped the U.S. win the event and earned a gold medal for his performance. The accident took place on Interstate 75 near Cordele. According to the report, the man's vehicle blew a tire while he was traveling in the middle lane. He reportedly stopped and exited his vehicle before calling for help. Just before 1:45 a.m., a semitrailer collided with the runner's vehicle. The impact of the collision knocked the disabled vehicle into him. Authorities did not release the name of the truck driver who caused the accident. Additionally, it was not known if the authorities planned to file charges against the driver of the truck for his or…

Motorists in Georgia may be surprised to learn that General Motors was warned about possible defects approximately seven years before a recall occurred in 2014. GM was contacted by an investigator employed by Vanguard Car Rental USA about a motorist in a Chevrolet Cobalt who lost control of the vehicle in September 2006. The vehicle drifted across the roadway onto a gravel median and overturned. The driver was wearing a seat belt but still died in the collision. The airbags allegedly failed to deploy during the accident. The claims adjuster for Vanguard contacting GM acknowledged that the cause of the crash was unknown but noted that the details of the crash warranted the automaker opening a claim and inspecting the model for potential defects. Bloomberg recovered these documents with a Freedom of Information Act request. Warranty records, call transcripts and police reports revealed that Enterprise also pressed GM about potentially…

A 50-year-old woman is dead and a 43-year-old man faces criminal charges after a two-vehicle accident in Richmond County on July 17. According to the Richmond County Sheriff's Office, the fatal car accident occurred around 7 p.m. when the man's vehicle, a red Dodge Magnum, struck the woman's Suzuki Grand Vitara as she attempted to turn from Faircrest Avenue onto Peach Orchard Road. Deputies reported that the man was speeding prior to the crash. An ambulance transported the victim to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead at approximately 7:42 p.m. An autopsy was performed the following day in Atlanta. Law enforcement officials charged the driver of the Dodge with first-degree vehicular homicide, reckless driving, and driving under the influence. Deputies said that witnesses told them he may have been racing when the accident happened. The news source did not report the level at which his blood alcohol content…

A June 26 car accident in Jefferson County claimed the lives of three people, according to authorities. The fatal accident occurred on Georgia Highway 1 south of Wrens, and Georgia State Patrol troopers arrived at the scene just after 2:45 p.m., reportedly. According to authorities, a 44-year-old man was driving a U-Haul truck on the highway when he attempted to pass other motorists and struck the front end of a silver Honda. Subsequent to that collision, the U-Haul driver sideswiped another vehicle before colliding head-on with a tan BMW. Authorities reported that the 44-year-old man died from injuries he suffered during the incident. Moreover, two other drivers involved in the crash, a 49-year-old woman and a 35-year-old woman, died as a result of the incident. If a preponderance of evidence from this case were to indicate that the fatal accident was caused by a driver's actionable behavior, then the at-fault…