Breaking: Fatal head-on crash in Walton County overnight shuts down SR 138 for over an hour

Overnight crash comes on heals of a slew of traffic crashes Tuesday

WALTON COUNTY, GA (Nov. 26, 2025) – Georgia State Patrol officials confirm that a head-on crash on State Route 138 in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Nov. 26, resulted in a fatality.

GSP Post 46 Assistant Commander Christoph Ayers said the crash involved a passenger car that was traveling east on Highway 138 on the wrong side of the road and a Mack garbage truck that was traveling west. Ayers said the Mack Truck attempted to make an evasive maneuver into the eastbound lane of SR 138 to avoid the collision and the passenger truck corrected his steering back into the westbound lane of SR 138. This resulted in a head-on collision. The driver of the passenger car did not survive his injuries.

Ayers said witness testimony supported that the driver of the passenger vehicle had not maintained its lane and a video recording from one of the vehicles has been retrieved.

Walton County Fire Rescue Deputy Chief Craig League said crews responded to the crash at 3:41 a.m. and the highway was shut down near Rowe Road for more than an hour as GSP investigated the crash.

This crash comes on the heels of a busy day on Walton County Roads Tuesday. League reported at at about 2:30 p.m. crews had responded to a two-vehicle crash at Highways 186 and 83 in Good Hope involving a motorcycle.

“(Walton) EMS transported one critical patient to Piedmont Athens,” League said, adding that another two vehicle crash on Highway 11 at Emmett Doster Road resulted in minor injuries.

At 4:51 he reported one lane had to be shut down on Youth Monroe Road at Ho Hum Hollow after a two-vehicle crash that also resulted in minor injuries. In addition, a multi-vehicle crash on Ga. Highway 11 at Nicholsville Road with minor injuries resulted in one of the vehicles running into the Campton Restaurant causing some damage to the exterior of the building.

The 102-hour Thanksgiving travel period on Georgia roads begins at 6 p.m. tonight and public safety officials are calling for safe and alert driving during this travel period. Over the same period last year, 17 fatalities were reported.