When a driver loses complete control and crosses the center line of a highway to face oncoming traffic, don’t bet on him or her making it home that evening. Many of the most spectacular and deadly accidents occur in that manner. In Georgia and nationwide, it’s been seen that most of these horrific automobile accidents are caused by the same few factors time and time again.
As reported by the Georgia State Patrol, the selected accident occurred when a 65-year-old Milledgeville man in a Toyota Scion was headed south on Ga. 49. He suddenly crossed the center line near mile marker 8 and crashed head-on into a Ford Fusion that was approaching. The impact sent the Toyota into a counter-clockwise swirl that ejected the driver and killed him.
The driver of a northbound Mitsubishi Mirage swerved to avoid the accident and wound up in a ditch, the report stated. The drivers of the Mitsubishi and the Ford were both injured and taken to a local hospital. Keep in mind that preliminary reports of injuries are far from definitive, and the extent and nature of a personal injury from a car accident must wait for days, weeks or even months while a team of treating physicians and healthcare workers communicate and work with the patient determine the precise dynamics of the injuries.
As stated, the case of an uncontrolled vehicle crossing the center line and crashing into oncoming traffic has only a small core of causes. First is the grand grim reaper of vehicular deaths, i.e., impairment through drunk driving or illegal substances. The second cause seen often is the fatigue factor, where a person falls asleep at the wheel and starts driving in a field of dreams, sometimes permanently. That event may be caused by prescribed medications, anemia, lack of sleep or some other medical condition.
Automobile accidents in Georgia and elsewhere have all seen influences of this third factor. It is texting, surfing and phone calling to the exclusion of one’s surroundings and current driving activities. The fourth category is a miscellaneous bag of everything else, including epileptic seizures, domestic violence events that unfold while driving, and even mechanical break-downs or flat tires to the vehicle.
Source: The Telegraph, “Milledgeville man killed in 3-vehicle wreck on Ga. 49,” Liz Fabian, July 2, 2013
