HOLT, Fla., Aug. 11, 2023—A fatal traffic accident on Interstate 10 closed down both westbound lanes for five hours today.
Two men were killed when the car they were driving collided with a tractor trailer around 2 p.m, according to a Florida Highway Patrol news release.
The accident happened near mile marker 42 in Santa Rosa County.
A 48-year-old driver and his 27-year-old passenger, both from Pensacola, were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the release.
FHP troopers arrived on scene and determined that the Pensacola BMW had collided with the flatbed of the semi-truck.
The crash closed both westbound lanes of I-10 for about five hours as emergency response teams attended to the scene and FHP investigated the accident.
Traffic quickly backed up as vehicles were detoured to Holt’s exit 45 to U.S. Highway 90 westbound. By 5 p.m., I-10 traffic was backed up to just east of the Yellow River bridge.
Westbound traffic limped along for what seemed like an eternity to get to the Holt exit. A handful of impatient drivers who decided to take advantage of the empty emergency lane to bypass others waiting in line wound up speaking to an FHP officer at the Holt exit and were likely reminded that the emergency lane is restricted to emergencies only.
Motorists stranded between the off ramp at Holt and the crash scene waited for more than an hour at a standstill until traffic was allowed to inch past the accident.
It took near 40 minutes for all the vehicles to clear the blocked portion of I-10. By 4 p.m., the roadway was clear of vehicles between exits 45 and 31.
Westbound traffic lanes were opened at exit 45 around 7 p.m.
The accident investigation continues, according to the FHP release.
Holt Enterprise News 
My husband was still sitting in traffic, 1 mile from exit 45, at 7:44 pm. Barricades at Log Lake Road (exit 45) did not come down until around 7:30-7:40, for traffic to continue through to west of exit 45.
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So it was a debacle…I experienced it for 2 hours. The people using the emergency lane were only making the congestion worse. It was making it impossible to get three lanes onto the exit ramp. I’m sure many people had issues such as low fuel or necessary restroom visits but it was a real cluster. There were hundreds if vehicles using the emergency lane until a State trooper arrived
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It was a very long wait (2 hours at least) and I needed the restroom but I did not use the emergency lane. The people using it were so rude, shooting everyone the finger as they passed. People are so inconsiderate these days . It makes me so sad. I’m so sorry for the people who lost their loved ones this way. I can’t imagine. God bless.
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We waited in traffic for the 5 hours it took to clear things up. Fortunately I didn’t need to go to the bathroom but my husband ended up peeing in an empty cup that we had in the car. There was no legal way to get out of traffic. It is sad that 2 people were killed.
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