Troup County, GA — June 23, 2025, Savannah Ann Deavers lost her life due to a truck accident at about 3:30 p.m. along State Highway 54.

According to authorities, 19-year-od Savannah Deavers was traveling in a northbound Honda Civic on Hammett Road at the State Highway 54 intersection when the accident took place.

Officials indicate that, for as yet unknown reasons, the Civic entered the intersection at an apparently unsafe time, failing to yield the right-of-way to highway traffic at a stop sign. This resulted in a collision between the right side of the Civic and the front-end of a westbound Peterbilt 18-wheeler.

Deavers reportedly sustained critical injuries as a result of the wreck and was flown to an area medical facility in order to receive immediate treatment. However, she was ultimately unable to overcome the severity of her injuries, having been declared deceased on June 25, 2025.

Additional details pertaining to this incident are not available at this point in time. The investigation is currently ongoing.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When a smaller vehicle enters a highway intersection and is struck broadside by an 18-wheeler, it’s easy to focus on who failed to yield. But that alone doesn’t resolve the deeper question: could anything have been done to prevent the crash, even if a mistake was made? The fact that a young driver reportedly entered the intersection without yielding makes this a difficult case, but it doesn’t end the analysis.

Intersection Collisions Are About More Than Just Right-of-Way

Stop sign violations are serious, but it’s important to understand what that failure looked like in real terms. Did the driver roll through the stop? Stop and then misjudge the truck’s speed? Or were sightlines blocked by trees, signage, or road curvature? These details matter, because they determine whether the driver’s decision was a momentary lapse or the result of poor visibility or road design.

Likewise, the truck’s role must still be evaluated:

• Was the truck traveling at or below the posted speed limit?
• Did the driver have time to react once the car entered the intersection?
• Were there any issues—like distraction or mechanical delay—that limited the truck’s ability to avoid the crash?

Just because a truck has the right-of-way doesn’t mean it bears no responsibility. I’ve handled cases where commercial drivers were technically in the right but had ample time to brake or swerve and failed to do so.

Right-of-Way Doesn’t Cancel Out Duty of Care

Truck drivers are trained to scan intersections and anticipate risks—especially in rural areas where cross traffic may not be controlled by a signal. If the truck was traveling at high speed or if visibility was limited, those factors could have made it difficult or impossible to avoid a collision. But if dash cam or ECM data shows no reduction in speed or attempt to avoid the impact, that could indicate the trucker didn’t recognize the hazard in time—or wasn’t looking for it at all.

This doesn’t mean the truck caused the crash. But it does mean the investigation must examine every element, not just the stop sign. Responsibility doesn’t always lie with one driver. It lies wherever the evidence shows someone had a chance to prevent the outcome and didn’t.

Key Takeaways:

• Reports suggest the Civic failed to yield at a stop sign, but it's still necessary to examine visibility, signage, and road conditions at the intersection.
• The truck driver’s speed, line of sight, and reaction time should be reviewed through ECM data and dash cam footage.
• Having the right-of-way does not remove a driver’s duty to avoid foreseeable collisions.
• A thorough investigation must consider whether either party had a reasonable opportunity to prevent the crash once it began to unfold.
• Legal responsibility depends not just on rules of the road but on real-time decision-making and available evidence.