8-year-old airlifted to hospital after rear-end wreck with logging truck

A heavily damaged Kia Soul awaits removal on GA 365 just north of Alto-Mud Creek Road after rear-ending a logging truck on May 2, 2023. An 8-year-old girl from Hall County was airlifted from the scene with suspected serious injuries. The car's driver was rushed by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville. The Georgia State Patrol is investigating. (Rob Moore/Habersham County)

Paramedics airlifted an 8-year-old girl to an Atlanta hospital Tuesday after the car she was riding in rear-ended a logging truck on GA 365 North in Alto.

Emergency personnel responded to the wreck at the intersection of Alto-Mud Creek Road around 3:35 p.m. on May 2.

Georgia State Patrol Post 7 in Toccoa investigated the wreck. According to their preliminary findings, 51-year-old Georgina Spivey of Flowery Branch was driving a Kia Soul behind a tractor-trailer loaded with sawed-off logs. Troopers say Spivey was following too closely, and the car struck the back of the trailer.

Spivey’s young passenger was also from Flowery Branch. AirLife 2 flew her to Egleston Children’s Hospital in Atlanta with suspected serious injuries.

AirLife Georgia 2 on the scene of Tuesday’s wreck on GA 365 in Alto. (Habersham County photo)
A tractor-trailer truck loaded with logs can be seen with damage after Tuesday afternoon’s collision on GA 365 northbound at Alto-Mud Creek Road. The Georgia State Patrol is investigating. (Rob Moore/Habersham County)

Habersham County EMS transported Spivey to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville with possible minor injuries. Officials say she was “coherent and stable at the time of transport.”

The truck driver was not injured. He’s identified as 58-year-old Jeffery Carnes of Jonesville, Virginia.

The wreck temporarily shut down both north and southbound lanes of the highway so the AirLife chopper could land and law enforcement could investigate. Officers with the Georgia Motor Carrier Compliance Division (MCCD) responded to the scene along with GSP to inspect the tractor-trailer.

Troopers charged Spivey with following too closely.

The crash happened less than two hours after a rear-end wreck on Highway 115 in Demorest killed a grandfather and grandson.

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