One killed in early-morning wreck on I-285
Jul. 23—A man was killed in a multi-car wreck that blocked all lanes of Interstate 285 northbound for hours Friday morning.
According to Cobb County police investigators, at around 4:36 a.m., Atlanta's Vivek Iyer, 29, was driving a black 2021 Tesla Model 3 east on I-285. As he approached the Cobb Parkway exit near Cumberland, Iyer lost control and collided with the median retaining barrier.
Iyer's Tesla was redirected back into the travel lanes and came to rest on its side across the lanes, facing south, according to police. Iyer then exited the car and entered the travel lanes on foot. A black 2007 Dodge Ram 1500 then hit the right side of the wrecked Tesla, and a blue 2007 Toyota Rav4 rear ended the Dodge. The Toyota was redirected to the north and hit Iyer, who was still in the road. He was fatally injured and pronounced dead at the scene.
The drivers of the Dodge and Toyota were not injured, police said.
The Georgia Department of Transportation said that all northbound lanes were blocked while police investigated the crash, starting around 4:45 a.m.
All lanes reopened around 8:30 a.m., according to Cobb DOT, but three right exit lanes on the northbound off-ramp to Cobb Parkway closed until just after 3 p.m. Friday for roadwork. GDOT cited a "road failure" at the off-ramp, which had been used to divert traffic off of I-285 while the highway was closed.
The crash is under investigation. Anyone with additional information is asked contact investigators at 770-499-3987.
