A 3-month-old Montgomery boy has died nearly a week after being critically injured in a multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 65, according to police. Wyatt Tidwell was identified by police as the victim of the crash, which happened near West South Boulevard on the evening of October 11.
According to AL.com, the crash occurred around 7:43 p.m. that Sunday. Wyatt was taken to the hospital with critical injuries, while other people involved in the wreck suffered only non-threatening injuries, according to Cpl. James Dozier. Wyatt died five days later, on Friday at 9:10 p.m., the outlet reported.
Montgomery police say the investigation into the crash remains ongoing, and the outlet's report did not specify what led to the collision or how many vehicles were involved beyond describing it as a multi-vehicle crash.
A Stretch of Road With a Troubled History
The crash site sits at the I-65 interchange with West South Boulevard, a corridor that Federal Highway Administration safety reports describe as carrying an average daily traffic volume of approximately 34,150 vehicles. Mayor Todd Strange reported at least 65 traffic accidents over a five-year span along the I-65–I-85 interchange. Separately, ALDOT spokesperson Tony Harris described speed as a contributing cause, according to Safe Home Alabama.
Interstate 65 is a major highway in Alabama.
Montgomery's South Boulevard corridor has seen other recent crash incidents as well. In May, an emergency vehicle rolled over near East South Boulevard, a crash Hoodline covered in its report on a fatal fire truck rollover elsewhere, underscoring ongoing hazards along that stretch of road. Just days before Wyatt's crash, a 59-year-old Elmore County man died after being ejected in a separate I-65 rollover near Jemison, further north in Chilton County, a crash Hoodline reported on October 16.
Statewide Numbers Underscore the Risk to Young Passengers
Data from the University of Alabama's Center for Advanced Public Safety, reported by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, shows the state recorded 18,161 traffic crashes through mid-October, including 71 fatal crashes. Traffic crashes occur throughout Alabama, and people are injured in them.
Vehicular fatalities represent the single largest category of accidental child deaths across Alabama, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health's Child Death Review System. Nationally, motor vehicle crashes remain a risk to children.
Alabama's Child Passenger Restraint Law
Alabama law addresses child passenger restraint systems.
Police have not said whether restraint use is a factor under review in Wyatt's case, and the investigation into the October 11 crash remains active. No additional details about the vehicles involved or potential citations have been released.
