A wreck involving a tractor-trailer truck and two passenger vehicles resulted in serious injuries and shut down Ga. 15/U.S. 441 in Mountain City for several hours Saturday.
The wreck was reported at 11:14 a.m. on Ga. 15/U.S. 441 near Cathey Road in Rabun County, said Sgt. Casey Coffee of Georgia State Patrol Post 7 in Toccoa.
A 2007 Volvo tractor-trailer driven by Ronnie Wood, 68, of Townville, S.C., was traveling south on Ga. 15 in the left lane behind a 2016 Toyota RAV4 driven by Tommy Clark Beasley, 82, of Franklin, N.C., Coffee said.
Beasley’s Toyota slowed to make a left turn and was struck in the rear by the tractor-trailer.
“The driver of vehicle 1 followed too closely, striking the rear of vehicle 2 with the front of vehicle 1,” Coffee said.
After impact, the tractor-trailer came to an uncontrolled rest, jackknifed headed south on the west shoulder of the highway.
Beasley’s Toyota rotated clockwise, striking a 2020 Toyota Corolla driven by Rashad Kirksey, 30, of Canton, Ohio, that was northbound on Ga. 15 in the left lane.
After impact, Beasley’s Toyota RAV4 came to an uncontrolled rest facing northeast in the left northbound lane.
Kirksey’s Toyota Corolla came to an uncontrolled rest against the guardrail on the east shoulder facing northeast.
Wood was not injured.
Beasley was injured and taken by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.
Beasley’s passenger, 78-year-old Jo Ann Beasley of Franklin, N.C., was seriously injured and had to be extricated, Coffee said. She was flown by AirLife Georgia to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.
Kirksey was injured and was taken by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, Coffee said.
Charges are pending.
The wreck shut down Ga. 15/U.S. 441 in Mountain City for much of Saturday while troopers investigated, and crews cleared the wreck.
