Wrong-way driver killed in two-vehicle crash in Jackson County
A wrong-way driver this week was killed in a two-vehicle collision north of Jefferson along U.S. Highway 129 in Jackson County, according to the Georgia State Patrol.
A 25-year-old Jefferson woman, Gabrielle C. Mackay, was injured in the Monday crash and transported to a hospital in Gainesville.
The patrol reported that Richard Brett Palmer, 36, of Monroe was killed in the crash. Palmer was formerly from Hoschton in Jackson County.
The trooper and a Jackson County sheriff’s deputy both reported that Palmer was driving a 2008 Honda Accord north in the southbound lane of the highway when he crashed head on into the 2018 Mazda CX6 driven by Mackay.
A sheriff’s report shows that shortly before midnight Sunday a deputy responded to reports that a car was driving erratic along Old Pendergrass Road. The deputy spotted the car when it stopped at the Highway 129 intersection, where it turned left going north in the southbound lane, according to the report.
The deputy began following the car by traveling in the northbound lane, but the Honda sped up reaching a speed of about 100 mph, according to the report.
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The deputy reported he witnessed some near misses as oncoming traffic dodged the Honda. More officers were summoned including Hall County deputies and GSP.
The car disappeared from the deputy’s sight, but the officer reported when he came upon a curve near WJ Dills Road he could see the crash scene where the Honda was fully engulfed in flames.
The deputy could not open the damaged door on the Honda, but he could see the driver slumped over and unresponsive. Getting the driver out of the burning car “was not possible,” the deputy reported.
The woman in the SUV was alert, but injured and could not exit her vehicle, according to the report.
Rescue personnel removed the woman and she was transported to a hospital. Troopers reported Thursday the crash is still under investigation.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Wrong-way driver killed in crash in Jackson County
