Pickup truck passenger ejected on I-285

By Larry Hartstein and Ty Tagami

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A man died after he was flung from the back of a pickup truck that collided with a Mercedes Monday afternoon, Sandy Springs police said.

The crash occurred at New Northside Drive just after 2 p.m., and closed three westbound lanes for about two hours.

Police were withholding the identity of the victim pending notification of his relatives. Sandy Springs Police Lt. Steve Rose said only that he was 45 years old and that he was pronounced dead at Atlanta Medical Center.

After colliding with the Mercedes, "the pickup truck rolled and ejected the man in the back," Lt. Keith Zgonc said.

Police initially reported that three others in the pickup suffered minor injuries and that the Mercedes driver was not hurt. But Rose said Monday evening that only the driver of the truck and one of his passengers was injured. Both were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, Rose said.

Rose identified the truck driver as Jack Mize, 69, of Chamblee.  Mize sideswiped the Mercedes before losing control of the truck, Rose said.

It is illegal in Georgia to carry passengers in pickup truck beds on the interstate, Zgonc said. No charges have been filed but an investigation of the cause of the crash is underway, Rose said.

Georgia law does not require drivers or passengers in pickup truck cabs to wear seat belts. A measure to enact a seat belt requirement passed the State Senate last February, but stalled in the House.

-- Staff reporter Marcus K. Garner contributed to this report.