2 dead after car slams into tractor-trailer on I-285, police say

NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Authorities are investigating what led up to a crash that left two people dead on Interstate 285.

The crash happened just after 5 a.m. Wednesday.

Several lanes of I-285 westbound were closed at the Chattahoochee River Bridge for hours as crews cleared the scene. Delays stretched back to Riverside Drive. All lanes reopened at 9:30 a.m.

Two people died in the crash, according to the Sandy Springs Police Department.

They victims have been identified as Derrien O’Neal, 33, and Sydni Hackett, 31, both of Atlanta.

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Sandy Springs police told Channel 2 Action News a preliminary investigation showed that the driver of a sedan failed to slow down for construction in a work zone and slammed directly into the back of a tractor-trailer.

“There was an accident involving a car and a tractor-trailer," Capt. Forrest Bohannon with Sandy Springs Police Department said. “The sedan had run into the back of the tractor-trailer.”

The car involved in the crash sat, smashed and unrecognizable, at New Northside Drive. The front end was crushed, and pieces of the sedan were scattered across the highway.

"There's no indication of alcohol being involved. It's very preliminary in the investigation, and we don't have any evidence of the driver being impaired," Bohannon said.

Police said it appears the victims were not wearing their seat belts. The driver of the tractor-trailer survived.

None of the construction workers or the other drivers were hurt, but police did speak with drivers who witnessed the accident and stayed at the scene.

Cox Media Group