Homewood, AL : Vestavia Hills man dead following rush-hour Montgomery Highway crash on Thursday, December 4, 2014

A Vestavia Hills man has died following a rush-hour crash on Montgomery Highway near Brookwood Medical Center. The Jefferson County Coroner's Office identified the man as Robert Lee Lacey, 81. Authorities said they don't yet know if Lacey died from injuries in the crash, or whether he suffered a medical issue that caused him to wreck. The crash happened before 8 a.m. Thursday in the northbound lanes. Witnesses told police Lacey was driving fine, and then all of the sudden started to weave in traffic and struck several cars. One of those cars overturned, but it was not Lacey's car. Lacey was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:54 p.m. One other person was hospitalized, but efforts to obtain the condition of that patient weren't immediately successful. The crash shut down the northbound lanes and snarled traffic for several hours. Northbound traffic was being diverted along Shades Crest Road, either toward U.S. 280 or Columbiana Road/Green Springs Highway. Traffic is heavy along Shades Crest, Columbiana and Rocky Ridge roads as a result. Source : Vestavia Hills man dead following rush-hour Montgomery Highway crash