Wreck Kills Four Students on Road “Where Bad Things Happen”
A two-lane road and a high rate of speed proved deadly for University of Georgia students Wednesday night as they traveled back from the “Iron Horse,” a popular gathering site for students 25 miles from campus.
Four girls died and a fifth remains in a coma after their Toyota Camry crossed the center line and a Chevrolet Cobalt hit the car, sending it into a ditch, according to The Atlanta Journal Constitution. The paper cited the Georgia State Patrol.
The Camry’s driver, Agnes Kim, remains in a coma with brain injuries at the Athens Regional Medical Center. All of the Camry’s passengers were wearing seatbelts except one, who was ejected from the car. The driver of the Cobalt, Abby Short Demorest, was released from the hospital Thursday morning.
Kim’s pastor at Classic Church, Lee Mason, blamed Highway 15 for the wreck. “It’s just a road where bad things happen,” the AJC quoted him as saying. There are only two lanes where the accident happened.
State police are not giving many details of the crash except to say alcohol was not a factor, news accounts said. Fox News described the tragedy as a “high speed” wreck.
The students were heavily involved in campus life, in sororities, volunteer groups and Young Life, a Christian fellowship.
The entire campus mourned Thursday. UGA President Jere Morehead was emotional at a news conference Thursday morning. “The loss of any student is very difficult,” Morehead said. “A tragedy of this magnitude is truly devastating. Anytime you lose a young person who has their entire life ahead of them that’s a horrible tragedy.”
A year and five days ago, five Georgia Southern University nursing students died in a crash on I-16. They were in a group of seven women in two cars on their way to their final clinical training of the year at St. Joseph’s/Candler Hospital in Savannah. Another two nursing students in another car were injured and lived. A tractor-trailer driver who had been texting on his cellphone and was nearing the end of his shift was cited as the reason for the crash and deaths. On April 20, lawyers for the deceased women’s families announced settlements worth millions of dollars, according to news accounts. Two lawsuits are still pending against the truck driver, John Wayne Johnson, Total Transportation of Mississippi and its parent company, U.S. Xpress of Chattanooga.
Not all wrecks can be avoided with careful driving. But maintaining lower speeds can decrease the severity of a wreck. Consult the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety website for driving programs and other safety information.
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