The State Patrol says the driver of this white Chevy Traverse pulled into the path of oncoming traffic while attempting to cross over GA 365 South at Crane Mill Road. (Now Habersham)
The Georgia State Patrol charged a Gillsville man with failure to yield following a three-vehicle wreck Saturday on GA 365 in Alto.
Joseph McClellon was driving west on Crane Mill Road attempting to cross over GA 365 South from the median when he pulled into the path of oncoming traffic, according to a report from the GSP. A 2017 Jeep Cherokee driven by 28-year-old Cassie Smith of Demorest struck McClellon’s SUV in the front quarter panel. The impact caused McClellon’s vehicle to rotate. As it did, a 2010 Honda CR-V driven by 42-year-old Marisa Lovell of Clayton hit the front of the Traverse.
The crash happened around 3:45 p.m. Saturday. It injured all three drivers and their passengers.
Ambulances transported Smith and Lovell and two teenagers in Lovell’s car to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville. The teens are identified as 14-year-old Jessica Dale and 16-year-old Jonah English, both of Clayton.
EMS transported Smith’s husband, Daniel, and two young children, 8-year-old Sawyer and 1-year-old Sylas, to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
The 40-year-old McClellon was injured but did not go to the hospital in an ambulance, according to Trooper Brady Galloway of GSP Post 7 in Toccoa.
The accident shut down both southbound lanes of GA 365 between Mt. Zion and Mud Creek Road for more than an hour. Traffic was detoured as patients were transported and crews worked to clear the scene.
