Christopher Eugene McDonald, 35, of Hartsville, S.C., was traveling eastbound on I-20 near Highway 113 in Villa Rica when the tractor trailer he was driving left the roadway and struck several trees.
The accident occurred around 4:30 a.m. McDonald was driving a car carrier tractor trailer, with about a dozen vehicles loaded on the trailer.
The driver in the single-vehicle accident was taken to a hospital but died a short time later.
It took nearly five hours for the right lane of the interstate to be fully re-opened, causing traffic flow to slow tremendously.
The Georgia State Patrol post in Villa Rica remained on the scene well into the morning Thursday investigating the crash and clearing the debris.
The carrier was in an embankment alongside the roadway until it could be cleared.
McDonald had a history of seizures, Carroll County coroner Sam Eady said. It’s the belief of investigators that one occurred prior to the accident. McDonald is believed to have been going to Savannah.
The state patrol agreed with Eady’s opinion, saying a previous brain injury was the cause of the accident and that the presence of alcohol or other influence was not suspected.
McDonald was taken to the crime lab for a full autopsy to discover what happened prior to the crash into the trees, Eady said.
The man was an avid stock car racer in the Pee Dee area of South Carolina, in the northeastern corner of the state. Several members of the racing community posted expressions of grief on Facebook Thursday.
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