Charges have been filed against the driver of an SUV involved in a single vehicle accident Friday in Clarkesville.
22-year-old Jessica Craven escaped serious injury when the 2008 Chevy Equinox she was driving veered off the road into a deep culvert just past the Mountain Judicial Circuit Public Defender’s Office on Historic Highway 441.
Craven was traveling southbound when she crossed into the northbound lane and ran off the road while attempting to light a cigarette, according to Georgia State Patrol Trooper 1st Class John Crawford.
The accident happened around 5:45 p.m. Friday. Casey Cook witnessed the wreck.
“I saw a silver SUV traveling very fast towards downtown, coming from the Hawg Wild direction, as it was crossing into the other lane,” Cook says. “It then went into the grass and followed the grass until it disappeared into the culvert and came to an abrupt stop.”
Craven’s SUV landed upright in the culvert. The vehicle’s front and side air bags deployed. Craven was temporarily knocked unconscious. She was transported by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville with lacerations and bruises.
Crawford says Craven is charged with failure to maintain lane and failure to wear a seatbelt.
Clarkesville Police, Habersham County Sheriff’s deputies, units from Clarkesville and Demorest Fire Stations and Habersham EMS responded to the call.
Traffic in the area was blocked for approximately 45 minutes as emergency crews cleared the scene.
