Joseph T. Gilbert Crashes Box Truck into Fence at Apartment Complex

An accident in Austell on Wednesday, February 19, claimed the life of a box truck driver.

47-year-old Joseph T. Gilbert of Hiram was driving eastbound on Riverside Parkway near Factory Shoals Road when he lost control of his 2013 International 4300 box truck.

The investigation did not uncover the reason for Gilbert’s loss of control over the box truck.

The truck went into the median and crashed into two street signs on Riverside Parkway before veering off to the right side of the road. Once off the road, the truck went through the fence of the Azure at Riverside Apartments.

After entering the apartment complex, the truck hit a large tree toward the front of the complex and came to rest. The truck was tangled in a mess of trees that were outside of the Azure at Riverside and the Kingsley Village Apartments. It took about four hours for the responders on the scene to clear the scene, causing significant delays in the area.

Gilbert was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident from the injuries he had sustained.

There are a number of things could be speculated as to the cause of the accident. Gilbert could have been distracted and when he realized what had happened, he overcorrected and lost control. He could have had a medical emergency while he was driving.

Cobb Police are still actively investigating this accident. There has been no statement released as to what could have caused Gilbert to lose control of the box truck.

Cobb Police did not mention if Gilbert was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident. There were no other reported injuries or vehicles involved in the accident. There have been no figures released as to the amount of property damage that the box truck caused in its destructive wake.