Provisions are being set to prevent additional damage on Lexington-Carlton Road and protect Oglethorpe County residents from tractor-trailers carrying granite to Elbert County.
There have been three accidents in the past six months involving granite trucks, in addition to a near collision with a school bus on Sept. 11 on Veribest Road.
The issue isn’t new, Oglethorpe County Commission Chair Jay Paul said, but officials are making efforts to end it.
“Accidents happen, unfortunately, but it seems like over the past six months, they've really stepped up in frequency,” he said. “That's what we're trying to address.”
Paul said he has spoken with the Georgia Department of Public Safety’s Motor Carrier Compliance Division (MCCD), which regulates the commercial trucking industry. The MCCD informed Paul that it would become more of a presence in Oglethorpe County.
The MCCD will focus on the county roads where accidents have frequently happened, including Lexington-Carlton Road, the next few weeks.
“Most of the things that we see may be driver error, meaning speeding, maybe distracted,” MCCD Capt. Dante Hackney said. “That may be causing some accidents along the corridor.”
Hackney said the MCCD will deploy workers to check for speeding and distracted drivers.
In addition to the presence of the MCCD, Paul has also been in contact with the Elberton Granite Association, a trade association for the granite industry. While the association isn’t responsible for hiring drivers, it contributes to education and information for its members.
“We try to provide best practice information for safety and government compliance to all of our members in EGA,” Executive Vice President Christopher Kubas said. “But in particular instances, we provide it to be passed out to everybody in the industry, even if they're not our members, trying to get them educated on issues and things related mostly to safety and government compliance.”
Paul said truckers are vital to the economy. And although he doesn’t want to increase the presence of government in Oglethorpe County, Paul said the issue has jeopardized county safety.
“If 18-wheelers shut down for five days, the country would be in chaos and disorder,” he said. “So, I have all the respect in the world for the trucking industry, but I can't endorse carte blanche behavior either.
“I have people who live up and down these roads who are coming to me and expressing their concerns. So, what happens next is on the trucking industry. They can make the choice to take lighter loads and lower speeds, and everything would be great.”