A motorcyclist died early Wednesday, Oct. 14, after losing control and striking a concrete barrier on Interstate 85 southbound at the GA-400 interchange, according to the Atlanta Police Department.
The crash happened around 2:14 a.m. The rider was operating a 2023 Kawasaki motorcycle when he veered into the concrete wall along the right shoulder, police said. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
No other vehicles were involved. The Atlanta Police Department's preliminary report confirmed a single-vehicle wreck, and investigators have not determined what caused the rider to lose control.
The collision forced the closure of all southbound lanes on I-85 at GA-400 for several hours overnight, Fox 5 Atlanta reported, citing the Atlanta Police Department Public Affairs Unit and the Georgia Department of Transportation. Georgia 400 at Sidney Marcus Boulevard was also closed while investigators worked the scene. Triple Team Traffic, WSB Radio's traffic service, issued a red alert Wednesday morning warning drivers that no southbound traffic from either GA-400 or I-85 could reach the Downtown Connector and advising Buford Highway as an alternate route.
The rider, a man whose name and age have not been released pending notification of next of kin, was decapitated in the collision, according to 11Alive. Witnesses who passed the scene before police arrived described it on social media.
"Police weren't on the scene yet. Going to have nightmares for a while," one witness wrote on a Facebook page, as reported by 11Alive.
The Atlanta Police Department's Accident Investigations Unit is handling the case under case number 262862017, the Georgia Sun reported. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with information about the crash can contact the Atlanta Police Department.
