1 dead, 4 suffer personal injury in collision in Forsyth County
Another brutally disturbing crossover accident occurred in Georgia on Feb. 10 at about 3 p.m. The accident occurred in Forsyth County on Brown’s Bridge Road near Floyd Lane. Both death and personal injury occurred when the operator of a 2002 luxury car that was going east crossed the center line of the roadway and crashed into a pickup truck that was traveling easterly on the road. The one death was to a 26-year-old female passenger of the crossover vehicle.
The decedent had been a resident of Monroe County. The driver of the crossover vehicle, a 34-year-old male from Gainesville, Georgia, was hospitalized with undisclosed injuries. The victimized pickup truck driver, a 43-year-old male of Cumming, Georgia, was also hospitalized.
Also going to the hospital were the pickup’s two juvenile passengers. Although the press reports indicate that the driver of the pickup and his two passengers were not expected to have life-threatening injuries, that information does not mean that they will not have permanent, disabling injuries deserving of compensation by the tortfeasor. Preliminary press reports and police reports are not generally authoritative, and in death cases there will usually be a much more thorough report issued containing forensic evidence and more detailed information accumulated since the accident.
In fact, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office stated that it is investigating the exact cause of the accident. There was no early report indicating whether the tortfeasor was allegedly impaired, or if he fell asleep or became distracted. There was no indication that Breathalyzer or blood tests were taken from the driver. In any event, the crossover driver was at least negligent and the apparent sole cause of the accident, thereby making him primarily liable to the personal injury victims and the estate of the deceased under Georgia law.
Source: 11alive.com, “Forsyth County officials identify victim of deadly Browns Bridge Road crash“, Christopher Buchanan, Feb. 13, 2018