Rutland High student killed after car careens from I-475 embankment

A Rutland High School student died Tuesday afternoon after her silver convertible careened off an interstate ramp and down a large embankment.

The Toyota Solara, badly damaged, apparently had been traveling on the Interstate 475 northbound ramp at Hartley Bridge Road when it crashed through guardrails and landed on the Interstate 75 northbound ramp about 40 feet below.

The driver, identified as Heather Harrod by Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones, was taken to the Medical Center, Navicent Health, where she was pronounced dead, Bibb County sheriff’s Lt. Randy Gonzalez said.

The 17-year-old Harrod was thrown from the vehicle, according to a Bibb County sheriff’s news release.

Matt Johnson didn’t see the wreck, but witnessed its immediate aftermath.

“It’s kind of a crazy thing to just drive up upon when you’re coming off an exit ramp ... certainly (not) what you expect to see,” he said. “I was the first car that pulled up just after the authorities” blocked the road.

Deputies and the Georgia Department of Transportation’s CHAMP unit blocked the on-ramp to I-75. Traffic that had already backed up on the ramp was reversed and directed back to Hartley Bridge Road.

“I’m not sure what happened,” Johnson said. “The car that’s up there ahead ... is damaged severely. It certainly looks like a bad scene.”

This story was originally published September 19, 2017 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Rutland High student killed after car careens from I-475 embankment."