Chris Jones: Greene Publishing, Inc.
On Friday, Feb. 24, a multi-vehicle wreck in Valdosta claimed the life of Madison native Joseph Ivan Driggers. Funeral services were held Monday, Feb. 27 at Beggs Funeral Home in Madison. The internment was at Corinth Cemetery in Hamilton County. Driggers was born in Madison, and spent most of his life in either Madison or Lowndes County, Ga. He is a graduate of Madison County High School and Valdosta State University.
According to the Georgia State Patrol, on Friday, Feb. 24, at approximately 11 a.m., a tractor trailer failed to stop at the red light at the intersection of Inner Perimeter Road and State Route (SR) 7, in Valdosta. The truck first collided with a red Pontiac G6, which was traveling north on SR 7. The Pontiac's driver, 22-year-old Shianne Lee Richardson, was transported to South Georgia Medical Center, where she is being treated for incapacitating injuries. The truck then veered left and struck Driggers’ Mitsubishi pickup truck, which was stationary in the westbound turning lane of Inner Perimeter Road, waiting to turn south onto SR 7.
The truck struck the driver's side of Driggers’ vehicle, claiming the driver's life. His passenger, 55-year-old Benjamin Jackson, of Valdosta, was airlifted to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where he is being treated for severe injuries.
Troopers do not suspect that alcohol or drugs were factors in the crash; however, a toxicology report is pending. Charges are pending, awaiting the findings of the Georgia State Patrol's Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team.