Update #1, 12/5/2016: The lead investigator in this case worked extensively to determine how and why this collision occurred.  The officer examined the evidence at the scene, damage to both vehicles, interviewed the surviving driver of the Subaru and other independent witness, and reviewed the results from the Medical Examiner’s Office.    

He was able to determine that Michael Dowis was traveling southbound in the northbound lanes of Interstate 85.  At one point, Dowis pulled his BMW into the center median to turn around.  As he was backing up, the back end of his vehicle protruded into the travel lanes.  The driver of the Subaru struck his vehicle at the driver’s side door. 

Dowis was not wearing a seatbelt.  He was thrown into the backseat where he died.  Dowis was also under the influence of alcohol.  The lab results showed his level of intoxication at more than .20.

The Medical Examiner listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma caused by the traffic accident.  The driver of the Subaru (Weiss) will not face any charges. 

(update: Cpl. Michele Pihera)

Original, 08/30/2016: (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