The Georgia State Patrol has charged a Michigan woman with DUI in connection with a wreck that seriously injured two children.
Troopers say Cynthia Lou Smith, 61, of Webberville, Michigan, was driving a Chrysler minivan north on GA 15/US 441 when she attempted to turn left and pulled into the path of a southbound Dodge Ram pickup truck. The truck struck the right side of the van, seriously injuring Smith’s 12 and 16-year-old passengers.
Paramedics flew the injured children to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Emergency personnel transported Smith to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainsville for treatment. She’s being charged with DUI, serious injury by vehicle, and other related traffic offenses, according to Corporal Larry Ray of Georgia State Patrol Post 7 in Toccoa.
Rabun County EMS transported a passenger in the pickup, Linda Mata, 57, of Cherokee, North Carolina, to Mountain Lakes Medical Center in Clayton with minor injuries.
The driver of the Dodge, Henry Welch, 51, also of Cherokee, and two small children ages 3 and 4 who were riding in the truck were not injured.
GSP’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team assisted Post 7 with its investigation into the crash.
Hall County jailer injured in Habersham wreck
The collision in Rabun happened less than an hour after an automobile crash on GA 15 in Habersham County that injured a Hall County deputy.
Around 8:30 a.m. Saturday, troopers say Ricky Lee McCall, 62, was attempting to turn left onto GA 15 from Tom Born Road when he pulled into the path of an unmarked Chevy police Tahoe. The Tahoe, driven by Lt. Mark Anthony Thomason of the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, was traveling north on GA 15. It struck the Saturn on the right front side. After impact, the Tahoe struck the guardrail.
Thomason, who works as a jailer in Hall County, was transported to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville with minor injuries, according to GSP.
The wreck temporarily shut down the roadway as Hall County requested its SCRT team to respond and take pictures of the scene. The crash happened at the same crossover where a Clarkesville woman was fatally injured in October.
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