A driver was killed on Interstate 75 South in Atlanta Tuesday afternoon after he stepped out of his stalled SUV near Cleveland Avenue and was struck by another vehicle. The crash shut down southbound lanes for hours during the height of the afternoon commute.
According to atlantanewsfirst.com, the driver had gotten out of a disabled green 2001 Nissan Xterra that was obstructing a middle lane of the interstate. A black 2017 Infiniti approached from behind and crashed into the rear of the Xterra and the man standing beside it, per Georgia State Patrol. The wreck happened around 2 p.m., according to the same report.
Both drivers were rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, where the Nissan's driver was pronounced dead, the outlet reports. The Infiniti's driver sustained only minor injuries, Georgia State Patrol said. As of the latest update, the identity of the man who died had not been released, per the same account.
Investigation Still Underway
The Georgia State Patrol's specialized collision reconstruction team is investigating the crash, according to WSB-TV. No further details on the cause of the initial breakdown or the sequence of events leading up to the impact have been released, and the case remains open as authorities piece together what happened on that stretch of highway.
Second Deadly Incident Near Same Interchange
This is not the only recent case of a driver being killed after leaving a disabled vehicle near the Cleveland Avenue interchange. In August, a woman was fatally struck after exiting her disabled Acura MDX on I-75 northbound in the same area, according to ajc.com. Atlanta police said that crash happened at about 3:30 a.m. on a Sunday, when a Volkswagen Tiguan struck both the woman and her vehicle. She was identified as 23-year-old Jaquelin Telesforo Vazquez, the newspaper reported.
The proximity of the two incidents underscores how dangerous it can be for drivers to remain outside their vehicles on this busy stretch of interstate after a breakdown. Georgia's Department of Transportation maintains a statewide crash-data dashboard tracking incidents on public roads, though it does not speak to the specifics of either Cleveland Avenue case.
For now, the identity of Tuesday's victim remains unknown, and investigators have not said what caused the Xterra to become disabled in the first place. Southbound I-75 has since reopened, but the Georgia State Patrol's investigation into the fatal collision continues.
