A woman was believed to be speeding before she lost control of her SUV early Sunday morning and crashed into a concrete wall on I-75, police said.
The impact caused the Jeep Liberty to roll over just south of the Cobb Cloverleaf, killing the woman. She was not wearing her seat belt at the time, Cobb County police spokeswoman Sydney Melton said.
The police department’s traffic unit was called to respond to the single-vehicle wreck in the northbound lanes of I-75 just after 4 a.m. The driver, identified as 25-year-old Deronique R. Smith of Atlanta, was dead at the scene.
“For unknown reasons, the driver lost control of the vehicle,” Melton said in a news release. “The Jeep exited the roadway, continued onto the asphalt shoulder and collided with the concrete Jersey barrier. The collision with the barrier redirected the Jeep, causing the vehicle to reenter the travel lanes and partially roll over.”
Witnesses told police that the Jeep passed them “at a high rate of speed” before it crashed, she said. Investigators believe that excessive speed was a contributing factor.
The investigation blocked lanes and impacted traffic for several hours Sunday morning, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. Authorities did not clear the scene until after 7 a.m.
The deadly wreck remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Cobb police traffic unit at 770-499-3987.
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