Two drivers walked away from a wreck that shut down a portion of Highway 197 for nearly two hours Thursday afternoon.
According to the Georgia State Patrol’s preliminary report, Marcia Vinson, 65, of Mt. Airy, was driving southbound on GA 197 in a Jeep Liberty Sport. She stopped in the roadway to let traffic pass so that she could turn left onto Hazel Creek Road.
Mary Beth Rice, 67, of Cornelia, was southbound in Subaru Forrester. Troopers say she was following too closely and traveling too fast for conditions.
The Subaru rear-ended the Jeep and, after impact, began to overturn onto its driver’s side. The Subaru came to an uncontrolled rest, upright, facing west on Hazel Creek Road.
Rice sustained possible minor injuries in the wreck but refused treatment, the state patrol report states. Vinson was not injured.
Georgia State Patrol Post 7 in Toccoa investigated the crash. The trooper charged Rice with following too closely.
A second wreck contributed to the traffic tie-up on Highway 197 South Thursday afternoon.
Officials say a driver was trying to turn around to avoid the backup caused by the first wreck when another vehicle struck theirs. It took crews about thirty minutes to clear that scene.
No one was injured.
