Traversing Georgia Highway 365 is a daily occurrence for most Habersham County drivers. It is often the fastest way to get from one city to the next and a reliable option when traveling outside of county lines.
On back-to-back days this week, Highway 365 was plagued with two accidents, both at the intersection of Demorest-Mt. Airy Highway.
The Wednesday accident involved six vehicles, backing up traffic for much of the morning commute. According to the crash report, all vehicles were traveling in the southbound left lane of Ga. 365. As vehicles were stopped and slowing due to the fog in the area, a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado struck a 2019 Chevrolet Cruze. The impact of the two Chevrolets caused a chain reaction striking a 2015 Jeep Wrangler, a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze and a 1993 Mercury Cougar XR7. The 2019 Chevrolet Cruze was knocked into the northbound lane of Ga. 365 when a 2015 Ford F-159 struck the car after the initial accident. The driver of the 2019 Chevrolet Cruze was suspected of having a serious injury and was transported to Northeast Georgia Medical Center.
The second crash report was not been released to The Northeast Georgian as of press time.
The number of wrecks on Highway 365 within Habersham County for 2022, according to Georgia Department of Transportation, is 206, including passenger and commercial vehicles.
Out of over 350 DUI arrests made in Habersham County, 68 were on Highway 365. Sgt. Kris Hall of Habersham County Sheriff’s Office’s HEAT Unit said, “In the day time probably one in six drivers is impaired in some way, and at nighttime that goes up to roughly three or so out of every six drivers is impaired. I wish more people knew this and understood it, and took notice of it.” When comparing the amount of DUI arrests, Habersham County has a high amount per capita. “We compete,” Hall said. “For a county our size, our numbers are equal to, sometimes are even bigger than, some of the metro areas like Forsyth County, Gwinnett, Hall, some of those agencies that have three or four times the population, but our numbers, when you look at per capita are either equal or exceed.”
Comparing pre-pandemic driving, Hall said the pandemic brought fewer motorists to the highway but more DUIs. “We saw an increase in DUI arrests, an increase in speeding, higher speeds just because there wasn’t as much traffic out there because people were staying home, working from home,” Hall said. “We saw an increase, almost across the board. Statewide everybody went up.”
Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell explained that poor driving habits cause danger for drivers in intersections on Highway 365.
“The biggest danger is all of those crossovers where the roads intersect with the four-lane,” Terrell said. “That’s the biggest danger. There’s so many of them. 365 runs off of I-985 and that comes off I-85 straight out of Atlanta. People like to run whatever speed down there, and they continue to come this way and continue to carry that speed, and you have folks running anywhere between 75 and 85 out there and you’ve got folks trying to cross the roads and older folks and new drivers. Those crossovers, that’s the biggest issue with 365.”
For safety on Highway 365, Terrell recommends drivers stay at the speed limit posted. “Everybody is in such a hurry, running in and out. We set our cruise and get there at the same exact time and it’s a lot safer. You see people going down the road looking down because they have to send that text message or email. Or God forbid you see them watching a movie! There is nothing so important that it can’t wait.”