One killed in Friday I-75N wreck

A wreck at about 10:30 a.m. Friday sent six people to the hospital, and one has died from as a result of her injuries.

Fatouma Fye, 62, of Miami, Fla., died at Navicent Health in Macon after the wreck.

The wreck happened as the 2017 Ford Explorer was getting onto the off ramp on I-75 N Exit 135, said Trooper 1st Class Mark Smith, the initial investigating trooper.

“Basically, the vehicle was traveling north on Interstate 75 and got off on exit 135,” Smith said. “The family mentioned intending to go to breakfast at Cracker Barrel. The driver stated that as she approached the intersection, she mashed the brakes, but they went straight to the floor.”

With the vehicle unable to slow down, Smith said, the driver attempted to move the vehicle to the shoulder of the road.

“When she got onto the off ramp she was traveling at typical speeds, and she swerved to the shoulder to strike the guardrail,” Smith said.

He added that the driver did not say she swerved to avoid anything, but that she was attempting to bring the vehicle to the shoulder of the road. Due to the speed of the vehicle, Smith said, it was not a gentle veer as would normally happen.

The vehicle continued forward, approaching the stop sign at the intersection, and then continued through the intersection yawing toward the driver’s side. The Explorer flipped onto the driver’s side just before striking the guardrail.

When the vehicle struck the guardrail, the tire came off due to the force of the impact. The vehicle vaulted the guardrail went over the second guardrail on the north side of the intersection and fell down the embankment to come to rest facing south on the driver’s side in the bushes at the bottom of the embankment.

When Smith made contact, he said that some of the six passengers were injured worse than others.

“Some were injured worse than others, but at the time, nothing to me seemed life threatening,” Smith said.

All six of the occupants of the Explorer were taken to Navicent Health in Macon to be treated. Fye passed away while being attended for her injuries at the hospital. She was sitting on the right hand side of the third row in the back of the vehicle when the wreck occurred, Smith said.

“When I made contact as the initial investigating trooper, nobody gave indication the vehicle needed to swerve, and the only mechanical issue was the brakes didn’t work,” Smith said. “Up front, face value, it was a 2017 Ford Explorer and a rental. You’d think there wouldn’t be any mechanical issues with that make and model and it being a rental.”

Speed will be an issue in the wreck; however, Smith said that wouldn’t come into play until after the vehicle struck the guardrail.

The vehicle was rented out of the Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The occupants were all related and from various parts of Florida who were traveling to Atlanta to attend the funeral of a family member.

The wreck is under investigation by the Georgia State Patrol Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team (SCRT). There are no charges at this time and may be pending upon completion of the overall crash investigation by SCRT, Smith said.

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