Elderly man killed after taking out the trash and getting hit by pickup

A 79-year-old Crawford County man died late Tuesday afternoon after getting hit by a pickup truck.

Preliminary reports indicated the man had just taken his garbage to the street and turned back into traffic, Georgia State Patrol Cpl. David Bullock said.

Gerald Wood was pronounced dead just before 5 p.m. at the Medical Center, Navicent Health, in Macon, Crawford County Coroner Sheldon Mattox said.

“It’s a sad deal because he was just doing what he probably did every week,” Mattox said.

The fatal crash happened about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday in the 3800 block of Avera Road, which runs between Ga. 128 and U.S. 341 near Roberta.

“Witnesses said he leaned forward into the path of an eastbound truck,” Bullock said.

When the accident happened, there were vehicles headed in both directions on Avera Road, including the eastbound Chevrolet pickup that hit the man.

No charges were initially filed.

This story was originally published July 19, 2017 at 7:48 AM with the headline "Elderly man killed after taking out the trash and getting hit by pickup."