A driver was seriously injured after her car stalled on GA 365 when it ran out of gas Wednesday night. Another car rear-ended the disabled vehicle, setting off a chain-reaction wreck that spread across the northbound travel lanes.
The crash occurred around 6:45 p.m. on Jan. 3 at the Demorest-Mt. Airy intersection.
State troopers say 33-year-old Beatriz Ruiz of Mt. Airy was driving a Honda Accord north on GA 365 when the car ran out of gas. Ruiz was on the phone with 911 when another Honda Accord, driven by 30-year-old Ronald Burgess of Lexington, Georgia, rear-ended her vehicle in the righthand lane.
The impact pushed Ruiz’s car into the adjoining lane, where a Toyota RAV4 driven by Victor Coronilla, 25, of Rabun Gap, rear-ended it.
After impact, the RAV4 spun around, and a Chevrolet Equinox driven by Blanca Sanchez, 32, of Cornelia, struck its rear driver’s side.
Habersham County Emergency Services transported Ruiz by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville for treatment. The three other drivers and a 14-year-old female passenger in the Equinox sustained possible minor injuries but were not transported to the hospital.
The wreck disabled all four vehicles. Tow trucks had to remove them from the scene.
Detour and cleanup
Multiple agencies, including the Demorest fire and police departments, Clarkesville Police Department, and Habersham County Sheriff’s Office, responded to the wreck.
Troopers from Georgia State Patrol Post 7 in Toccoa investigated the crash. They charged Ruiz with improper stopping in the roadway.
The wreck shut down the highway near the crash site for more than an hour. Georgia Department of Transportation maintenance personnel assisted towing operators with cleaning up the widespread debris. The highway reopened around 8:09 p.m. Wednesday.
