One veteran police officer in Atlanta said that a chain-reaction crash from earlier this week was one of the most unusual accidents he’d investigated in his career. The crazy crash highlights just how wild, and dangerous, Atlanta’s interstates can be.
The accident, which was reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, shut down all lanes of I-75 in Clayton County late Thursday night for several hours. According to a sheriff’s spokesperson, the unreal chain of events began a little after 10 p.m. when a deputy clocked two motorcycles heading northbound traveling at 110 miles per hour.
Not long after that, while the sheriff was still in pursuit, one of the motorcycles slammed into the back of a Volkswagen sedan. Adding one more wrinkle to the story, it turns out that the motorcycles were both stolen, thus explaining the 110 miles per hour speeds. After the first biker lost control of his motorcycle, the bike went airborne, ramping off the back of the VW, flying over the concrete median and crashing directly into the windshield of a southbound tractor-trailer.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the truck driver lost complete control of the tractor-trailer, causing the rig to become disconnected from the truck. The southbound trailer, which at this point had been cut loose and was on its own, then crashed through the concrete median wall and collided with the side of a northbound SUV.
Police officials say they were stunned when they arrived on the accident scene, especially after seeing how the median had been smashed. Officers noted that it takes a tremendous amount of force to rupture the concrete barriers. After the chain reaction crashes finally came to a stop, the cab of the tractor-trailer caught fire. The original deputy who first clocked the speeding motorcycles was able to come to the rescue of the truck driver, pulling him from the blazing truck.
Thankfully the truck driver was not burned. Unfortunately, the trucker did sustain injuries as a result of the original crash when the motorcycle landed on his windshield. The motorcyclist whose wreck started the bizarre chain reaction was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Miraculously, the drivers of the other vehicles escaped with only minor injuries. Police say the second speeding motorcyclist did not stop and that police are still searching for the driver.
As Georgia car accident attorneys who routinely handle cases involving dangerous or intoxicated drivers, we are able to offer experienced advice regarding your legal options in such a situation. If you or someone you know has been injured in a car accident or truck wreck because of the carelessness of another driver, call the personal injury attorneys at Pope, McGlamry P.C. today to schedule a free consultation.
Source: “Speeding motorcyclist goes airborne, setting off fiery chain-reaction wreck on I-75 in Clayton County,” by Mike Morris, published at AJC.com.
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