While the
Georgia Department of Public Safety reported that the state had fewer fatal accidents than it did last year
during the New Year’s Eve holiday period, tragically the state still
experienced 6 fatal crashes over the four days that were counted as being
in the holiday period. I am a car accident injury and wrongful death lawyer
here in Georgia, and yesterday I wrote about the report from the Georgia
Department of Public Safety that explained that many more car accidents
had occurred during the 2012-2013 New Year’s Eve period than in
the New Year’s Eve holiday period in 2011-2012. The Georgia Department
of Highway Safety considered this year’s holiday period to begin
at 6:00 p.m. on Friday evening , and to end at midnight on Tuesday.
Fortunately, even though more car wrecks occurred, fewer deaths occurred
this year than last. Although the numbers were lower, however, still six
fatal crashes occurred here in Georgia over New Year’s Eve.
State troopers were called to the scene of three of those fatal crashes.
Police units from Cobb County, Warner Robins and Macon investigated another
three fatal wrecks.
The Georgia Department of Highway Safety has released information on the
three wrecks that were investigated by state troopers over the 2012-2013
New Year’s weekend.
On Sunday night, a young man from Adel, Georgia, Jake Dale Daughtrey, was
driving on I-75 in Lowndes County. Daughtrey, just 22 years old, went
off the road. When he tried to reenter the roadway, he overcorrected and
the vehicle rolled over. Daughtrey was thrown from the car into oncoming
traffic in the opposite, southbound lane. Three passengers that were in
Daughtrey’s car were killed in the rollover accident. Troopers from
the Madison, Georgia post investigated the scene of the accident. Apparently
Daughtrey was not impaired by alcohol, because the Georgia Department
of Highway Safety notes that alcohol was not suspected as being a contributing
factor to the crash.
A 29-year-old man from Jefferson, Georgia was killed on Monday morning.
At 11:50 a.m., Brian Allen Churchill was driving on Benton Road in Jackson
County. Churchill lost control of his BMW, and the car went off the road.
The BMW ran into a fence, overturned, and then hit a utility pole and
a tree. Churchill was killed and a passenger was taken to a nearby hospital,
Athens Regional. Alcohol was not involved in the wreck, according to the
Athens, Georgia-based Georgia State Patrol post that investigated the crash.
Georgia state troopers from the Valdosta, Georgia, post investigated a
third fatal accident that occurred on Tuesday morning at 1:10 a.m. Desmond
Leroy Hall, age 30, was walking along Georgia Highway 77 in Greene County.
Hall, who was from Siloam, Georgia, was walking with the flow of traffic
when a vehicle struck him from behind. The description put out by the
Georgia Department of Highway Safety is unclear as to whether Hall was
walking on or beside Georgia Highway 77. The report does say that the
driver of the vehicle that hit Hall was charged with DUI (driving under
the influence) and that alcohol was suspected to be “a contributing
factor” I the wreck.