Wrong-Way Fatal Accident Remains Under Investigation

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The fatal accident involving an alleged wrong-way driver on Interstate 575 north of Canton remains under the investigation by the Georgia State Patrol.

Drug and alcohol tests are still pending, and there’s no indication of how long it will take the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Crime Lab to process those requests, said agency spokesperson Tracey Watson.

According to a report released by the agency, troopers responded to the crash shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 28 on I-575 near Airport Road between Ball Ground and Canton.

A Toyota Corolla, driven by Kristen Elaine Adams, 28, of Jasper, was traveling southbound in the northbound lanes “when she struck a tractor-trailer head-on,” the Georgia State Patrol previously told Patch.

According to the report, the roadway surface was dry and the weather was classified as clear. The report notes the Corrolla Adams was driving was traveling south in the left northbound lane while the tractor-trailer was moving northbound in the same lane.

The driver of the tractor trailer “could not avoid” the Corrolla and hit the Toyota head-on, the report states. After the collision, the Corrolla “rotated counter-clockwise, leaving the left edge of the roadway.”

“Vehicle 1 (the Corrolla) continued rotating, causing the vehicle to overturn,” the trooper wrote in the report. “Vehicle 1 came to a final rest on its top facing east approximately 104 feet from the area of impact. Vehicle 2 (tractor-trailer) came to a final rest in the left lane facing north.”

The driver of the tractor-trailer, 24-year-old Francisco Javier Rivera of Lawrenceville, was not injured in the wreck.

Jasper-based Pickens Progress reports Adams was a single mother of two children and had worked for Canton-based Image Maids, a residential cleaning service.

On its Facebook page, Image Maids on Saturday wrote the company “lost a beautiful, hard working and passionate mother” in the accident.

Adams had just been promoted in the office and was “so happy and and proud of her accomplishments and prospective future for herself and (her) children,” Image Maids added.

“We were very happy and proud for her as well,” the company said. “We have known Kristen for almost ten years. We are very numb and heartbroken today. We will miss you Kristen, please pray for her two children as they are having a very hard time today.”

A GoFundMe account has been set up to help care for Adams’ children. A gathering of friends in honor of Adams was held on Tuesday at Sosebee Funeral home in Canton. According to the obituary, Adams loved animals and enjoyed playing, softball, basketball and spending time with her children.

She is survived by her mother, Shannon Adams; father, Steve (Leslie) Adams; children, Aleya Dozier and Jayden Dozier; brother, Michael (Amanda) Adams; grandmother, Lois Langston; father of her children, Nate Dozier; and many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.

Photo: Kristen Elaine Adams. Credit: GoFundMe