Moments after a driver was involved in a crash on I-20 early Tuesday morning, a tractor-trailer hit his SUV and killed him.
Investigators said the tractor-trailer was not able to stop in time before hitting 52-year-old William Head.
Head was driving an Acura SUV east on I-20 near Fulton Industrial Boulevard about 1:40 a.m. when, for unknown reasons, he lost control, Georgia State Patrol spokeswoman Franka Young told AJC.com. His SUV went across all three lanes of the interstate, left the south shoulder and hit a concrete wall, Young said.
The impact caused Young’s vehicle to spin back into the right lanes of the road, Young said.
The tractor-trailer was heading east on I-20 as the damaged SUV sat disabled in the road, officials said. The driver hit the Acura on its passenger side, sending it forward several hundred feet, Young said.
The big rig caught fire after its driver lost control of the vehicle and hit a median wall, Young said. The driver, who made it out of the truck, said it appeared Head was standing near the Acura’s trunk when he was hit.
The fatal wreck closed all lanes of I-20 for more than five hours, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. The roadway reopened about 7 a.m.
An investigation is ongoing.
The deadly crash was one of three incidents on metro Atlanta interstates early Tuesday morning. A MARTA bus fire just before 5 a.m. led to hours of delays at Spaghetti Junction, officials said.
About an hour later, a tractor-trailer carrying cans of Coca-Cola overturned on the exit ramp from the southbound Downtown Connector to I-20 East, according to the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department.
No one was injured in the MARTA bus fire, according to authorities. The driver of the Coca-Cola truck got out of the vehicle on his own and only minor injuries were reported, officials said.
In other news:
About the Author
