GAINESVILLE, GA — October 12, 2026 Barbara Ann Payne, an 85-year-old woman from Tennessee, died following a collision involving a Kia Sportage and a flatbed truck on Browns Bridge Road in Gainesville, according to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators said Payne was riding in the front passenger seat of the Kia near Whiporwill Road at approximately 9:30 a.m. when an International 4000 flatbed truck backing onto Browns Bridge Road struck the vehicle.
Payne was transported to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, where she later died. Robert Quinn Payne, 89, who was driving the Kia and also lived in Maryville, Tennessee, sustained injuries and was taken to a hospital.
Authorities reported that the 24-year-old truck driver, a Dawsonville resident, was arrested on charges of second-degree homicide by vehicle and improper backing. A 49-year-old Washington resident who was reportedly standing in the roadway to help stop traffic while the truck backed out was also arrested, on a charge of pedestrian in the roadway.
The circumstances surrounding the collision remain subject to the official investigation.
