A 27-year-old Gwinnett County man was killed early Saturday when he drove northbound in the southbound lanes of I-85 in DeKalb County and hit an oncoming truck head-on, police said.
The wreck happened around 1:15 a.m. Saturday on I-85 south of North Druid Hills Road, shutting down the southbound lanes of the interstate for more than four hours, according to Channel 2 Action News.
According to a DeKalb police incident report, Keith F. Smith of Suwanee was driving a 2001 Mercedes northbound in the southbound lanes when he crashed head-on into an Isuzu rental truck.
The Mercedes exploded in flames on impact, police said.
Smith was ejected and died at the scene, according to the report.
Witnesses told police that they saw the Mercedes headed down Lenox Road with no headlights on before turning onto the exit ramp at Cheshire Bridge Road and Lenox Road and heading north in the southbound lanes of the interstate.
The car made it less than a half-mile before hitting the truck and a 2008 Toyota Corolla that was also southbound on I-85 behind the truck.
The driver of the truck, George Saunders of Cumming, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital. His condition was not immediately available.
A passenger in the Toyota was also taken to Grady after complaining of a headache, police said.
Police said that while investigators had not yet determined whether Smith was driving under the influence, suspected illegal drugs were found in his pants pocket.
Southbound traffic on I-85 was routed off the interstate onto North Druid Hills Road until the lanes were reopened just before 6 a.m.
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