VALDOSTA — Road rage may have been behind an early morning fiery crash that took the lives of four people Thursday.

The three-vehicle collision occurred about 2:30 a.m. in the southbound lanes between Exits 16 and 18 on Interstate 75.

Sgt. Carl Taylor with the Georgia State Patrol said that the driver of a black Honda was on the phone with Lowndes County 911 reporting the aggressive behavior of the driver of a silver Saturn when both vehicles were struck by a Penske rental truck.

The driver of the Honda reported that the driver of the Saturn was attempting to stop or block him, Taylor added.

“At this point, they were in the middle and right southbound lanes on the Interstate,” he continued.

The Honda and the Saturn were either stopped or nearly stopped when the rental truck came up on them in the right lane, Taylor added. The driver of the Penske rental truck made an effort to go to the left to avoid hitting the Honda and the Saturn, he said. However, the truck’s right rear struck the left rear of the Honda and the truck’s front end struck the rear end of the Saturn.

Taylor said that the three vehicles traveled 30 or so yards before coming to a rest in the middle lane of southbound I-75. At that time, he said that the driver of the truck and another person pulled the driver from the Saturn, which had already started to burn.

“They were unable to extract the other occupants due to the fire,” he added. “The driver died on the scene (possibly from injuries sustained during the accident). The other three died most likely as a result of the fire.”

Taylor said that the four who died in the accident have been identified as Jerome Roberts, 40, Cheryl Collins, 41, Mahronda Collins, 20, and 11-year-old August Roberts, all of Midway, Ky. The occupants of the Honda and Penske rental truck escaped the accident without any serious injuries.

Lowndes County Coroner Bill Watson, who was at the scene of the crash, said, “Everyone seemed to be OK in the (Honda and truck). They were pretty shook up. I spoke to one of them who said that he was OK.”

Although identification of those who died in the accident was made possible by a few papers found among the rubble and some dogged investigative work, Taylor said that their bodies will still be sent to the State Crime Lab in Atlanta for dental analysis and positive identification.

Next of kin has already been notified, he said.

“We are trying to get them scheduled to go into the (State Crime) Lab (in Atlanta) for autopsies and a positive identification,” Watson continued. “They are accepting bodies on Saturday but will be closed on Sunday and Monday. We don’t know how long the process will take with the holiday.”

“I couldn’t even tell you the make and model of the car,” he added. “It was so badly burned.”

For five hours, all southbound traffic on I-75 was detoured at Exit 18 onto North St. Augustine Road to Hill Avenue then back onto I-75 at Exit 16. The Valdosta Fire Department responded to the scene with three engines and a tanker truck.

By 7:30 a.m., all the southbound lanes of I-75 reopened to traffic.

The city of Valdosta issued a press release urging all motorists to drive with caution, particularly over the upcoming holiday weekend and to allow extra time for traveling due to the busy weekend activities.

The fatal accident occurred mere hours prior to the start of the official Independence Day holiday travel period. The 78-hour holiday period kicked off at 6 p.m. Thursday and will end at midnight on Sunday.

Traffic crashes during the 2008 Independence Day holiday travel period claimed the lives of 22 people in Georgia, according to the Georgia State Patrol. There were 1,860 traffic crashes reported and 910 people injured.

Traffic estimates from the Crash Reporting Unit at the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Georgia State Patrol are for 1,874 crashes, 895 injuries and 22 fatalities this Independence Day holiday travel period.

The highest number of Independence Day holiday travel period traffic fatalities occurred in 1972 when 34 people were killed, and the lowest occurred in 1962 and 1984 when two people were killed.