A faculty member of Georgia College and her brother were killed on Oct. 10 in Milledgeville after the car they were riding in was struck head-on by another vehicle. Both died at the scene.
The 51-year-old woman was a passenger in the front seat. Her 54-year-old brother was in the back seat. Her husband was driving. The driver suffered broken bones and was airlifted to a hospital.
According to the Georgia State Patrol, the family had almost arrived home, shortly before midnight, when a 29-year-old South Carolina man struck them. They are still investigating why the vehicle veered into oncoming traffic on Lake Laurel Road.
The GSP says that after the car carrying the three family members was struck, it went off the shoulder of the road and tumbled down an embankment into a ditch. The vehicle traveling behind it then struck the wrong-way driver. The 27-year-old driver of that third vehicle wasn’t injured seriously enough to be hospitalized. The wrong-way driver was taken to the hospital.
The Georgia College exercise sciences lecturer, who leaves behind three adult children, was remembered as an active woman. She spent 12 years as an adjunct professor at Georgia Military College, and continued to run in the GMC triathlon. In fact, the college’s vice president of human resources says that when she heard of her death, she assumed it can occurred while she was either running or biking.
It was not reported whether any charges have been filed against the wrong-way driver or whether alcohol or drugs are suspected as a cause of the crash. The police investigation into a crash can provide valuable information not just for a criminal case, but for any civil action that may be taken against an at-fault driver by victims and surviving family members.
Source: The Telegraph, “Georgia College lecturer and brother killed in Milledgeville crash,” Liz Fabian, Oct. 11, 2016