A 65-year-old Commerce man is dead after his pickup truck veered off a curve on Georgia Highway 327 and slammed into several trees Monday night, according to the Georgia State Patrol. Troopers identified the driver as Timothy Nile Patterson, who was flown to a Gainesville hospital but did not survive.
The Georgia State Patrol responded to the single-vehicle crash near Airport Road in Franklin County around 9:31 p.m. Monday, as reported by FOX Carolina News. Troopers said Patterson’s 2007 Ford F-150 was traveling south on the highway when he lost control in a curve, ran off the roadway, and struck multiple trees.
Patterson was airlifted to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, where he later died, the outlet’s report states. Officials said he was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, and investigators do not suspect impairment played a role.
A Stretch of Road With a Troubled History
Monday’s wreck adds to a string of deadly crashes that have hit Franklin County roads this year. In May, troopers responded to a two-vehicle crash on Stone Bridge Road near Andrews Road that left one person dead and three others with serious injuries, according to WNEG Radio. That investigation drew in the Georgia State Patrol’s Troop B Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team, the outlet reported.
Other recent crashes in the county have also proven fatal. A separate wreck killed the drivers of a Ford Escape and a Mazda 3, who were both pronounced dead at the scene, per 921 WLHR. Another report from WYFF4 noted that two people died after a car crashed into a tree in Franklin County.
No further details on the cause of Monday’s crash have been released. The Georgia State Patrol’s investigation into Patterson’s death remains the only confirmed account of what happened on Highway 327 that night.
