A South Carolina man was charged with following too closely after a chain-reaction crash involving five vehicles Wednesday afternoon on Dawsonville Highway near the Forsyth-Hall County line.

Rodney Ouzts, 56, of Pickens, S.C., was driving a Chevrolet Avalanche and towing a trailer with a Ford Mustang when he hit a Honda CRV, setting off a chain reaction.

The collision, which occurred about 2:45 p.m. at Dogwood Path by Lake Lanier, sent three people to area hospitals and shut down the highway for more than two hours, authorities said.

Forsyth County Sheriff's Cpl. David Garrison said all the vehicles involved were traveling east on Ga. 53 toward Gainesville.

Garrison said the pileup began when a Nissan Quest minivan driven by Avrelio Zavala-Guzman, 50, of Forsyth County stopped to make a left turn onto Dogwood.

Two vehicles, a Ford Crown Victoria and the CRV, were waiting behind the minivan when the Ouzts' Chevrolet Avalanche set off the chain reaction.

Garrison said Ouzts' passenger, 33-year-old Brandon Henry, also of Pickens, was flown to Atlanta Medical Center, where he was in stable condition.

Also injured were Zavala-Guzman and Dahlonega resident Amanda Dunn, 30, who Garrison said was driving the Ford Crown Victoria.

He said Zavala-Guzman and Dunn were both in stable condition at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.