LEE CLARKSON ACCIDENTS2011: 5 accidents, 1 fatality, 1 serious injury (to date)2010: 5 accidents, 3 injuries2009: 3 accidents, 2 minor injuries, 1 visible injury2008: 1 accident, 2 people injured2007: 2 accidents, no injuries2006: 1 accident, minor injurySource: Georgia State Patrol
CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. – Past a sharp bend on Lee Clarkson Road, two giant trees stand near one another, each with visible scars.
One tree marks the place where 21-year-old Jared Bean was killed seven years ago; a steel cross and flowers now stand at the spot. Nearby, fresh burn marks along the other tree’s trunk and shards of glass at the base show where 17-year-old Gordon Lee High School student Jordan Queen was killed last week when his car sped out of control and slammed into the tree.
State numbers show 17 wrecks have occurred on Lee Clarkson Road in the last five years, nearly all within the sharp curve. Most of the crashes involved minor to severe injuries, Georgia State Patrol statistics show.
Those figures don’t include wrecks worked by Chickamauga police, ones that took place on the section of road inside city limits and didn’t involve fatalities. But Police Chief Micheal Haney said Wednesday he doesn’t recall any significant wrecks in the past couple of years.