(Buford, Georgia) One person was killed in a traffic accident on I-85 yesterday (August 29).  The call came in at 4:43am on I-85 Northbound north of the Flowery Branch Road overpass.  Once officers arrived on scene, they found one person had died and another was injured.

The injured party was transported to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Braselton while the Accident Investigations Unit responded to the scene.  The northbound lanes of the interstate were shut down.

The investigation revealed the following:

• Jeremy Weiss (age 22, Raleigh, NC) was traveling north on I-85 in the northbound lanes in a 2015 Subaru.

• Michael D. Dowis (age 48, Simpsonville, SC) was traveling south in the northbound lanes in a 2014 BMW.  The BMW then pulled into the center median and began to back up.

• As the BMW was backing from the center median, it was struck by the Subaru in the driver’s side door.

Dowis was determined to not be wearing a seatbelt and died at the scene.

Weiss was transported to the hospital.

It is still not clear what caused Dowis to travel down the interstate in the wrong direction.  Speed does not appear to be a contributing factor.

The interstate was reopened around 7:55 am.

Link to the report:https://www.dropbox.com/s/mrkm9ln6wjwntvk/16-080475%20fatal%20accident.pdf?dl=0