Victim “confused” before fatal wreck

Published 7:03 pm Wednesday, May 27, 2009

An elderly driver who was killed on I-75 on Saturday after his vehicle was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer had run out of gas in Catoosa County earlier in the day and deputies there were “concerned” about him. A state trooper said he received a call that the man was driving between 5 and 10 mph on the interstate in Whitfield County.

William V. Fitzgerald, 70, of Griffin was traveling south near mile marker 329 just above the Connector 3 exit when his vehicle was hit by a U.S. Express truck. Fitzgerald’s vehicle was knocked off the road into two trees, said senior trooper E. Tommy Bonaparte of the Georgia State Patrol.

Bonaparte said information uncovered in the investigation — some of which was given him by family members but has not been confirmed — revealed Fitzgerald had brain surgery about a month ago and had been to a medical appointment at Emory Hospital the day before the wreck.

“He ran out of gas in Catoosa County earlier that day, and deputies there were concerned about him and said he appeared confused,” Bonaparte said. “They called adult services and were told they could not do anything for him. Around 1 p.m. Mr. Fitzgerald said he wanted to go home. It appears he had gotten turned around and was going the wrong way.”

A call to the adult protective services hotline for the northwest Georgia area of the Department of Family and Children Services was not immediately returned on Wednesday

In Whitfield County, “a witness nearly hit him before the truck did,” said Bonaparte, who received a call at 1:36 p.m. that a vehicle was traveling “between 5 and 10 mph” on the interstate.

“I was on Dug Gap Mountain Road and got there in six minutes, but I was two minutes too late,” he said.

Bonaparte said the witness saw a tractor-trailer “swerve” to avoid Fitzgerald’s vehicle but a truck behind the tractor-trailer did not have time to react.

“It’s hard to tell how fast a vehicle is going in broad daylight if its brake lights are not on,” said Bonaparte. “If the second truck was going 70 mph and Mr. Fitzgerald’s car was going even 15 mph, (the second truck) would have needed 500 feet to get out of the way.”

Bonaparte noted the minimum speed limit on the interstate is 40 mph. He said no charges will be filed against the U.S. Express truck driver.

A call to the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office was not immediately returned on Wednesday.