Overturned tractor-trailer blocks 365 ramp for 5 hours

A one-vehicle wreck at the Tom Arrendale Interchange disrupted traffic for more than five hours yesterday, Feb. 26, as law enforcement officials worked the scene and cleanup crews uprighted the semi truck that overturned near the intersection of GA 365 and Toccoa Highway in Habersham County.   

Habersham County E-911 received the call reporting the overturned 2020 Freightliner Cascadia truck at approximately 4:15 p.m.

Numerous Habersham County Emergency Services and Habersham County Sheriff’s Office units and personnel responded to the scene. A Georgia Department of Public Safety Motor Carrier Compliance Officer also responded.

According to Georgia State Patrol reports, the driver of the truck, Tony L. Johnson, 32, of Statesboro, was traveling south on GA 365, and approximately a half mile south of the Tom Arrendale Interchange, failed to maintain his lane, struck a guardrail and overturned. 

The southbound offramp at the Tom Arrendale Interchange was closed by the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office Civil Division until Georgia Department of Transportation personnel arrived and placed barricades and trucks at the ramp entrance from Tommy Irvin Parkway. A Georgia Department of Public Safety Motor Carrier Compliance Officer also responded.

According to Habersham County Public Information Officer Rob Moore, Johnson was transported nonemergent by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center Habersham with what Georgia State Patrol reports termed minor injuries. 

The truck, carrying wire, was unloaded and righted by towing crews and the ramp reopened about 9:30 p.m.

Johnson has been charged with driving too fast for conditions.