Traffic on I-75 South through Marietta turned deadly early Friday when a car slammed into the back of a stopped tractor-trailer near the bridge over North Marietta Parkway, killing the driver at the scene.
Marietta police identified the victim as 47-year-old Gordon Fields. Investigators said the crash happened just before 1 a.m., and emergency crews pronounced Fields dead along the southbound lanes. Police said the department's traffic investigators are handling the case.
According to 11Alive, investigators said Fields was driving a white Volkswagen that struck the rear of a stopped tractor-trailer. A second tractor-trailer then swerved to avoid the stopped rig and grazed its left side. Police identified the stopped truck's driver as 29-year-old Mayki Marcelin and the other truck's driver as 35-year-old Daniel Granados. Both remained on scene and are cooperating with investigators.
Why Stopped Vehicles Are Especially Dangerous
Rear-end collisions are among the most common types of crashes on U.S. roads and can be especially deadly at highway speeds. Data from the NHTSA show rear-end crashes accounted for about 7.1 percent of fatal crashes and more than 30 percent of injury crashes in 2019. The numbers underline how risky it can be when any vehicle is stopped on a high-speed corridor like I-75.
Marietta police said the stopped tractor-trailer was driven by Marcelin, who lives in Davenport, Florida, and that the other truck driver lives in Fort Lauderdale. Authorities said no charges have been filed at this stage of the investigation. They asked anyone with information to contact Traffic Investigator Henry at 770-794-5266. Police said they shared those details with media outlets and investigators on scene.
What Investigators Typically Examine
When a serious crash involves commercial trucks, investigators commonly pull electronic logging device records, event data recorder snapshots, telematics and dashcam video, along with maintenance and inspection logs, to reconstruct the moments before impact. Federal rules require carriers to retain electronic logging device records for inspection, and those records, combined with event data recorder and engine control module data, can show speed, braking and driver activity in the lead-up to a collision. The rule is outlined by the FMCSA.
Marietta police said the department's Selective Traffic Enforcement Program is handling the probe and that investigators expect to release more information as it becomes available.
