An 80-year-old Hull man died Thursday morning after driving the wrong way on US Highway 29 North in Athens and slamming into oncoming traffic, setting off a three-vehicle chain-reaction crash that sent two other drivers to the hospital. Wayne Voyles was behind the wheel of a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox traveling northbound in the southbound lanes near Talley Crossing at around 6 a.m. when he struck a 2022 Toyota Tacoma headed the correct direction on the highway.
According to Classic City News, the impact pushed the Tacoma into a 2022 Toyota Highlander that was also traveling southbound on Highway 29. All three drivers were transported by EMS to a local hospital, where Voyles later succumbed to his injuries. The Tacoma driver and the Highlander driver were both treated for non-life-threatening injuries, the outlet reported.
Voyles lived in Hull, a Madison County community that sits just north of Athens along the Highway 29 corridor, according to 11Alive. The highway serves as a primary commuter route linking Madison County residents into Athens-Clarke County, and the station reports that investigators are still working to determine how Voyles ended up driving the wrong way that morning.
Investigation Continues Into How Crash Unfolded
The Athens-Clarke County Police Department released details of the crash but has not yet said how or where Voyles entered the wrong lanes of travel, per 11Alive. The crash investigation remains ongoing, and Master Police Officer Lewis is asking anyone with information about the incident to come forward. Witnesses can reach Lewis by phone at 762-400-7169 or by email at [email protected].
Voyles' death marks the eighth traffic fatality in Athens-Clarke County so far in 2026, the article notes. It follows a pattern flagged earlier this year in Hoodline's coverage of a 9-year-old’s death on a high-risk corridor, which had put the county's 2026 fatality count at seven prior to mid-August.
Senior Drivers and Wrong-Way Crash Risk
About 500 people die each year in crashes on divided highways, according to AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety research. Older drivers are overrepresented among wrong-way motorists.
Georgia law requires drivers 64 and older to pass a vision screening or submit a certified vision report from an eye specialist at every license renewal, according to the Georgia Department of Driver Services. Georgia drivers generally renew licenses every eight years, but drivers age 60 and older must renew in person every five years, according to the rules described by Nolo. Statewide, drivers 65 and older were involved in 12 percent of Georgia's fatal traffic collisions in 2022, a figure drawn from a population of more than 1.5 million senior drivers in the state, per Nolo.
A Corridor With a Troubled Recent History
Highway 29 North has seen fatal incidents before. In October 2025, a driver from Hull was involved in a fatal late-night collision at the intersection of Highway 29 North and Highway 72 in Athens, in which a vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian, according to Now Georgia.
Wrong-way crashes have drawn heightened scrutiny in Athens over the past year. In December, a multi-vehicle wrong-way crash on the GA-10 Inner Loop killed a 26-year-old wrong-way driver along with a young married couple and their unborn child, as Hoodline reported in its story on the pregnant woman and husband who died in that crash. And in February, an Athens-Clarke County courtroom heard damages arguments in a $50 million wrongful-death lawsuit tied to a fatal 2023 wrong-way collision that killed a University of Georgia doctoral student, a case Hoodline covered in its report on parents demanding $50 million in damages.
County's Vision Zero Goal Faces Pressure
Athens-Clarke County's Mayor and Commission adopted a Vision Zero Resolution in August 2022, setting a formal goal of eliminating all traffic fatalities and serious injuries on county roads by 2037, according to the Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County. The county recorded a record high of 23 deaths in 2022 before settling closer to an average of about 12 deaths annually. With eight fatalities already logged in 2026, this week's crash adds fresh weight to that long-term safety goal as officials continue tracking crash patterns along corridors like Highway 29.
