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Police: Driver causes pileup to keep sofa dry


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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A woman who didn't want the rain to ruin the sofa in the back of her truck caused 24 vehicles to wreck behind her Sunday on Interstate 20 as she swerved to get under an overpass, a police spokesman said.

Eleven people suffered minor injuries.

"It was a mess," said Sgt. Pat White of the DeKalb County Police.

He said the woman was driving her brown Ford F-150 pickup truck westbound on I-20, just east of Atlanta, at 5:19 p.m. EDT when it began to rain.

She changed lanes so rapidly that she cut off cars as she made her way to the shoulder of the road to get under the overpass, White said.

"She cut off two vehicles initially, right away, and that caused those two vehicles to collide with each other," White said. "We had a total of 24 vehicles at the end of it."

Eight separate accidents were reported as a direct result of the woman's poor driving, he said.

"She never was struck," White said of the woman, "but she did stay at the scene and was charged with improper lane change."

He said the woman had planned to stop in the dry area under the overpass until the rain stopped.

The westbound lanes were blocked for about an hour as officials tried to clear the scene, the dispatcher said. All lanes were open by 9:30 p.m. EDT, White said.

DeKalb County borders the Atlanta city limits to the east.


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