(DEKORRA) Drivers heading west on Interstate 90/94/39 early New Year’s Day narrowly avoided a deadly crash after a car was found stopped in the middle of the highway — with its driver passed out behind the wheel.
The close call happened around 3:54 a.m. near the 112.6-mile marker in the Town of Dekorra. A Columbia County Highway Department patrol supervisor spotted the vehicle sitting in the center lane and immediately called it in to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
A sheriff’s deputy was nearby and arrived before another vehicle could slam into the stopped car. According to the sheriff’s office, the vehicle’s hazard lights were on, but it was still in gear and blocking traffic. The driver was unconscious in the seat.
The deputy was able to wake the driver and get him to put the vehicle in park and step out. Once outside, the driver showed clear signs of impairment and appeared highly intoxicated, deputies said. He was also disoriented and unaware of where he was.
Investigators later learned the driver was under the legal drinking age. He was arrested for first-offense operating while intoxicated and taken to the Columbia County Jail. Authorities identified him as a 20-year-old man from DeForest.
Sheriff’s officials said the situation could have ended much differently if another driver had come upon the stopped vehicle at highway speed.
“This is exactly the kind of scenario that leads to fatal crashes across the country,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement, crediting the highway department supervisor’s quick call and the deputy’s fast response for preventing a tragedy.
The sheriff’s office said the incident underscores why deputies continue to prioritize impaired driving enforcement, especially during holidays.
