Driver hits bear on I-75---in Acworth

pro2am · Jul 24, 2007

whoops...I guess its technically Kennesaw

Dang, I missed this by minutes this morning....I guess I left for work too early.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/24/07

Sandra Allen never saw it coming. The bear, that is.

"He just came dashing toward the highway, and I knew we were going to hit," said Allen, who was on her morning commute up I-75 from Kennesaw to Mohawk Industries in Calhoun. "I screamed and hit the poor fellow."

Kennesaw resident Sandra Allen's 2001 Volvo was damaged when she hit a bear on I-75 Tuesday morning. The bear was severely injured.

Allen was shaken but otherwise uninjured after hitting the black bear in south Cherokee County.

She was in the left lane of the northbound interstate when the 200-pound bear ran out of the wooded median north of Wade Green Road.

The left front of Allen's four-door 2001 Volvo hit the bear at highway speed.

"There's no way I could have avoided it," said Allen, a few hours after the 7:45 a.m. incident. "There was such an impact that the passenger door behind me buckled."

Cherokee County sheriff's Sgt. Jay Baker said the bear was severely injured, and it was euthanized by a Cobb County police officer who first arrived on the scene.

The left lane of the interstate was briefly closed while officials with the state Department of Natural Resources removed the bear, a young male estimated by the DNR to be 2 to 3 years old.

Allen, 47, said she's "a big animal person" and initially considered calling her veterinarian to see if anything could be done to save the bear, but she then learned the bear had died.

"I wasn't worried about my car, I wasn't worried about me," she said. "I was worried about this poor bear. The whole thing is just incredibly sad to me."

Tuesday's incident wasn't the first this year involving bears in the suburbs. Bears have also been spotted this summer roaming around Roswell, east Cobb County and near Stone Mountain in DeKalb County.

But Melissa Cummings, a spokeswoman for the DNR, said the frequency of metro Atlanta bear sightings this year has been about normal.

"The young male bears are being kicked out by the mother bear, and they are searching out for their own territory," Cummings said. "... Unfortunately, that sometimes takes them through neighborhoods and streets, and with this one, across an interstate."

Three years ago, a Gainesville man driving on I-85 in Gwinnett County struck and killed a 450-pound black bear near the Ga. 120 exit.
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Claire · Jul 24, 2007

wow! where's the pics?

Thorsen · Jul 24, 2007

Sad. I have had my fair share of road kill, but never anything this large. Had a friend who almost died when the deer he hit came through his windshield. Poor guy was literally sucking down his food for several weeks as his jaw was badly broken in the accident.

USMC - Retired · Jul 24, 2007

Cherokee County sheriff's Sgt. Jay Baker said the bear was severely injured, and it was euthanized by a Cobb County police officer who first arrived on the scene.
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What sized log did he use?

pro2am · Jul 24, 2007

Gunny!

He was a LEO...not a Marine!

USMC - Retired · Jul 24, 2007

pro2am said:

Gunny!

He was a LEO...not a marine!
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My bust.... It's just that there are a lot of LEO's that also happen to be Marines. By the way it is Marines with a capitol M!

tj2000 · Jul 25, 2007

Alright,,,,

Claire said:

wow! where's the pics?
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Who got the fur and meat???????

glockgirl · Jul 25, 2007

I almost hit a bear a couple weeks ago near Helen... Scared the bejesus out of me

fallison · Jul 25, 2007

glockgirl said:

I almost hit a bear a couple weeks ago near Helen... Scared the bejesus out of me
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A couple of years ago, an ambulance hit one that weighed over 400 pounds on the mountain between Helen and Hiawassee.

ber950 · Jul 25, 2007

Maybe the driver didn't store their food properly. Maybe DNR should fine them. Na bears aren't problem in this state.

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