A Smyrna man was killed in a multi-car pileup that shut down I-75 northbound in Bartow County before daybreak Tuesday.
According to Cartersville police Maj. Mark Camp, the chain reaction wreck began about 6:15 a.m. when the driver of a Ford truck lost control and spun out just north of the I-75 bridge over the Etowah River.
The Ford was then hit by a Honda Accord, and both drivers got out of their vehicles, which were in the left emergency lane and partially in the left travel lane.
A third car tried to avoid the first accident, swerving to the left and hitting the wire guardrail in the median, Camp said.
A fourth car, also a Honda Accord, then swerved to the left to avoid the accident, but struck the driver of the Honda involved in the initial crash, knocking him across the median and killing him, according to Camp.
“An ambulance with Central Ambulance came upon the scene and stopped to help, but a fifth car ended up striking the ambulance’s rear bumper, causing minor damage,” he said.
Camp said no charges have been filed, but the investigation is ongoing.
The identity of the motorist killed in the wreck has not been released, but Camp said he was from Smyrna.
Authorities shut down all northbound lanes of I-75 for more than an hour, but had reopened one lane by 8 a.m. and all northbound lanes by 10:30.
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