Tragedy struck Georgia three times in four days, as four Georgians have
been killed in three separate fatal car accidents in the past week. Two
children were killed and several others were injured in a tractor-trailer
wreck in Chatsworth, Georgia. One man was killed in an auto wreck in Hart
County, and another Georgia man died in a car crash in Lenoir, North Carolina.
Chatsworth, Georgia, has had only 22 fatal car wrecks in the past 34 years.
But on Friday, January 4, 2013, Chatsworth experienced a truly horrific
crash that has left the Murray County community reeling. Although I see
and read about many car crashes because I am a lawyer handling car accident
lawsuits, I completely agree with the community – this crash was
absolutely tragic.
According to the police report, on Friday, January 4, 2013, three people
were injured and two children were killed in the
Chatsworth car accident, which occurred in Chatsworth in Murray County. The Dalton Daily Citizen
article says that a GMC Envoy was traveling southbound on Old U.S. 411
at approximately 10 a.m. The Envoy failed to stop at a stop sign and hit
a tractor-trailer that was heading east on Ga. 136. The Envoy rotated
and hit the truck again in the rear.
Two children, Zach Greene, age 6, and Mason Greene, age 12, were killed
in the wreck. Susan Renee Greene, age 39, their mother, was injured. Both
of the children were sitting on the right side of the car that hit the
tractor-trailer truck. One of the children was in the front passenger
seat and the other in the right rear seat. Emergency personnel took Susan
Greene to Hamilton Medical Center, alone with Dylan Webb, a 13-year-old
relative of the family, who also was injured. Bobby Gene Douglas of Resaca,
Georgia, was driving the tractor-trailer. He also was injured and taken
to Hamilton Medical Center. The Calhoun Times reported that the children’s
father is a Gordon County firefighter.
In 34 years, 26 people have been killed in 22 accidents in Chatsworth,
Georgia. Compared to the rest of Georgia – and adjusted for the
fact that Chatsworth has a smaller population than some other Georgia
cities — Chatsworth has had about the average number of fatal car
crashes, and slightly above the average number of fatalities in Georgia.
A deadly 2009 crash also occurred on Old U.S. 441.
Another Georgia car accident turned deadly in
Hart County on January 7, 2013. At 6:50 a.m., a man was killed in a two-car collision
on Bowman Highway. The man was driving one of the vehicles. The other
driver was airlifted to a hospital. The wreck occurred about six miles
outside of Hartwell, Georgia.
Additionally, a Georgian, Brian Christian Carroll, age 30, of Acworth,
Georgia, died in a
two-car wreck in Lenoir, North Carolina. The accident occurred about 10 p.m. A second
man, Neal Raymond Audet was thrown from his vehicle, a 2000 Ford Mustang.
Audet, age 29, from Mooresville, was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center,
a hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he was listed in critical
condition.