A rear-end wreck on GA 365 in Lula temporarily shut down the northbound lanes and sent two people to the hospital. The Wednesday afternoon crash occurred in the area of Lula Road/State Route 52.
According to the Georgia Department of Public Safety, Jesse Barlow of Clayton was driving a Chevrolet Equinox north in the lefthand lane when he rear-ended a BMW 328i that was stopped in traffic. The impact of the crash caused the BMW to strike the rear of a Volkswagen Golf Alltrack. The Volkswagen veered into the right lane and grazed a fourth vehicle.
Troopers from Georgia State Patrol Post 6 in Gainesville investigated the wreck. They say Barlow told them he had his cell phone on his lap playing music. The phone began slipping, and he looked down to catch it when the accident occurred.
After the collision, the Equinox ended up in the median. The fourth vehicle left the scene. Diana Percy of Walhalla, South Carolina, was driving the car that ran into it. She said she did not notice the grazing on her car until after the accident and suggested to troopers the other driver may not have known they were grazed.
The wreck did not injure Percy or her passenger, Michael Percy, also of Walhalla.
Ambulances transported Barlow and the BMW driver, Reagan Carter of Eastanollee, to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville for treatment.
“The investigation is still active,” says GDPS spokesperson Courtney Floyd. She would not say whether any charges are pending.
