A five-vehicle traffic accident up on Interstate 985 in south Hall County Wednesday morning resulted in minor injuries to one of the people involved.
Initial reports indicated the victim suffered serious injuries, but troopers with the Georgia State Patrol indicated that was not the case.
The crash on the northbound side of the road tied up traffic before 8:00 a.m. as crews worked with victims and cleared the wreckage near Falcon Parkway, just north of the Spout Springs Road exit in Flowery Branch.
"Arriving units advised that multiple subjects were out if their vehicles upon arrival. One patient was extricated from a vehicle and transported to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville with serious injuries. All other patients refused transport," Hall County Fire Services Captain Zachary Brackett wrote in an email.
Two vehicles — a Honda Civic and Honda Odyssey van — were headed north, in the left lane, when traffic suddenly came to a stop. Both vehicles safely stopped, but a third vehicle — a Ford Escape — did not, rear-ending the, hitting the Civic, which hit the Odyssey.
The driver of the Escape said he was changing the song on his cell phone as he approached the scene, troopers said in an email update.
A fourth vehicle — a Kia Soul — was also headed north, and swerved into the emergency lane to try to avoid the collision, but hit the Escape, which had also pulled into the emergency lane.
The driver of the Civic suffered minor injuries; all others refused transport. The driver of the Escape faces charges of following to closely and failing to exercise due care.
The Georgia State Patrol is handling the investigation. All lanes of the interstate were back open after 9:00 a.m.
AccessWDUN's Brian Stewart contributed to this report.
