Driver flies off bridge onto I-75 in fatal crash

Driver reportedly was traveling at a high speed.

A pickup truck flew off a bridge Monday and onto the I-75 median in Cobb County, killing the driver, police said.

The crash at Akers Mill Road shut down multiple lanes near I-285 at times, the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center reported. The interstate reopened just after 2:45 p.m.

Cobb County firefighters work to clear the wreckage after a pickup truck ran through a concrete wall on Akers Mill Road and plunged onto I-75.

The driver was the only person in the vehicle, Cobb police said in a news release. Just before 12:45 p.m., the driver of the 2007 Chevrolet Silverado took the I-75 HOV ramp to Akers Mill Road “at a high rate of speed,” going through the intersection, crashing through a concrete barrier and plunging into the concrete median below. The driver’s name has not been released, pending the notification of next of kin, the release said.

A witness told Channel 2 Action News he saw the truck go through the concrete retaining wall on Akers Mill Road, fly through the air and crash to the ground. The truck landed cab-first.

Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Natalie Dale said the ramp has signs indicating the speed limit is 35 mph and there is a signal ahead.

Dale said the barriers used on the bridge are “not designed to withstand a head-on collision at a presumably high rate of speed.”

“Designs are meant to address real-world conditions where a motorist is actively attempting to avoid a collision by methods like breaking or steering away from the wall,” she said.

Dale said the agency is awaiting details of the accident.

“There are clearly some highly unusual circumstances and we are eager to learn what those circumstances are from law enforcement,” she said.

PHOTOS BY ALYSSA POINTER / ALYSSA.POINTER@AJC.COM Cobb County police officers and members of the Georgia Department of Transportation look over a broken concrete retaining wall after a pickup truck driver ran through it and plunged onto the Interstate 75 median near the I-285 exchange in Vinnings on Monday.

The driver’s pickup truck is cleared from the scene on Monday. Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Natalie Dale said the agency is awaiting details of the accident.