A box truck driver died Wednesday after losing control of the vehicle and slamming into a tree in front of a Cobb County apartment complex, according to police.
The crash that killed 47-year-old Joseph T. Gilbert of Hiram occurred just after noon on Riverside Parkway at Factory Shoals Road, Cobb police said.
According to investigators, Gilbert was driving a 2013 International 4300 box truck eastbound on Riverside Parkway when he lost control of the vehicle.
After crashing into two street signs in the median of Riverside Parkway, the truck went off the right side of the road and crashed through the fence in front of the Azure at Riverside Apartments, police spokesman Sgt. Wayne Delk said Thursday in a news release. The truck then hit a large tree in front of the complex.
Gilbert was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation impacted traffic on Riverside Parkway during the lunchtime drive.
It was one of two crashes Cobb police responded to Wednesday. Nearly two hours after the fatal crash in south Cobb, authorities were called to one with serious injuries in north Cobb.
In the latter crash, a 2019 Toyota Corolla was traveling northbound on Cowan Road and turning left onto Cowan Connector, Delk said. A 2018 Yamaha YZFR3 motorcycle was going southbound and approaching the intersection. The vehicles collided in the intersection just before 2 p.m., and the motorcyclist was thrown from the bike.
The driver of the Toyota, a 76-year-old Acworth woman, was not seriously injured. The motorcyclist, identified by police as 23-year-old Errol Simms of Acworth, was taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital with serious injuries.
Both crashes remain under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call 770-499-3987.
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