Three Dead After I-10 Crash in Holmes County

For decades, safety experts have told us that driving while tired can be just as dangerous and driving under the influence of alcohol.

The Dothan Eagle reports that this seems to be what happened in a single-vehicle crash along Interstate 10 in Holmes County on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. The crash has left three people dead.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) said in a statement that the crash happened at approximately 7:40 a.m. when a Nissan sedan was traveling westbound on the I-10 near mile marker 97.

Officials say that the 21-year-old driver fell asleep at the wheel, causing the vehicle to veer off the highway’s pavement onto the rumble strips that run along the median and the shoulders of the road.

The rumble strips awakened the driver, who over-corrected the drifting vehicle too hard to the right. The overcorrection caused the car to cut across two lanes of traffic, off the road, and down a grassy embankment. The vehicle spun out, and the rear passenger side of the car struck a tree. The impact caused three back seat passengers to be ejected from the vehicle.

Emergency crews from Holmes County EMS, the Holmes County Fire Department, and deputies from the Holmes County Sheriff’s Department were called to the accident site. The three back seat passengers dead at the scene. The driver and a front-seat passenger were air lifted to Southeast Health in Dothan with serious injuries. Their current condition was not released at the time of the report.

Investigators report that while the driver was wearing a seatbelt, the other four passengers were not.