A single car accident in Attapulgus left one victim dead and sent another victim to the hospital with injuries Monday sometime after 2:30 p.m.
Georgia State Troopers say a couple was traveling south on North Griffin Avenue when the driver lost control of the car, overcorrected and spun into the ditch.
The collision threw 65-year-old John Franklin Wesley out of the vehicle. State Trooper John Kirkus said Wesley was pronounced dead at the scene and it appeared once he was thrown from the vehicle, the vehicle landed on him, taking his life.
The driver was Wesley’s wife, Linda Ann Wesley. She was transported to the hospital. The victims were in a 1995 Ford pickup truck.
“Neither one of them had seatbelts on and they were both thrown out of the vehicle,” Kirkus said. “It looked like the driver came off the road, overcorrected and did a 180 degree turn, the rear of the car striking a pine tree and throwing out the victims.”
Kirkus said he believed if the two had been wearing seatbelts, the fatality could have been prevented.
“People need to realize that seatbelts do save lives and that is the biggest thing I can put out there to people,” Kirkus said. “I do believe seatbelts in this case would have saved that man’s life.”
Kirkus said there were reportedly two dogs traveling in the car with the Wesleys. One dog was killed being thrown from the vehicle and the other is missing — Kirkus said he believes it ran away from the scene of the crash.