WILKINSON COUNTY, Ga. — After a fiery crash happened in Wilkinson County on Tuesday, Deputy Coroner Dusty Thomas said the man who died was 61-year-old Randal Wilson from Milledgeville.
Wilson was driving a truck when he died at the intersection of Highway 441 and State Route 112. Another truck driver allegedly ran through a stop sign and t-boned him.
Wilkinson County Sheriff Richard Chatman said they've already responded to three crashes at that intersection this year. The crash on Tuesday was the fourth one, and its being investigated by the Georgia State Patrol.
"When I started in the 80s, we had some horrific car accidents down there cause it didn't — it hadn't always been four lane," Chatman said.
Today, two of the four lanes have stop signs, and Tuesday's accident happened when a truck driver allegedly didn't properly stop at one.
"I think a lot of times some people think it's a four-way stop when you get to that intersection," Chatman said.
He said most of the crashes they work have been on the state route side.
"A good bit of those people, particular on the 112 way, you know, they're not familiar with the area," Chatman said.
So far, he said they've responded to 26 crashes at that intersection in the past nine years. That doesn't include the more serious ones where they've had to call in Georgia State Patrol for help.
"We've had a number of fatalities there. I can't give you an exact number. They have a number of fatalities there, serious injuries there," Chatman said.
Wilkinson County District One Vice Chair Zachery Shepherd said he's well aware of the problem at that intersection since he used to work crashes there as a volunteer firefighter.
"DOT has been doing, has done their studies and working diligently to find a solution for it. But it is very hard to engineer out driver error," he said.
Shepherd said most of the crashes he's been aware of came from drivers not paying attention to the stop and yield signs. He said that's why they've worked with the Department of Transportation to plan for a roundabout to be installed there.
"This intersection's slated to start work in July of 2026," Shepherd said.
He said the Department of Transportation's been aware of the problem for years, but it's taken time to find a solution.
"We are concerned for the safety of our citizens and the public," Shepherd said. "It's part of due process and we're, we're working as hard as we can."
On Tuesday, Georgia State Patrol told us the driver who allegedly ran the stop sign was taken to a local hospital with a possible broken leg.