By Billy Davis

A head-on collision New Year’s Eve spared the lives of drivers and passengers, and also spared Panola County from a list of statewide fatalities.

Darrin Anderson and his family were severely hurt when their Chevy Tahoe collided with a pickup on Highway 315, near Mt. Olivet Methodist Church.

Anderson and his wife Heather and their two children were traveling northbound when the pickup pulled out of Mt. Olivet Road and entered their lane on the highway, said his brother, Jay Anderson.

The worst injury was to the 11-year-old child, who was flown to Le Bonheur with internal bleeding, said Anderson. The child was released Wednesday, he said.

Darrin Anderson, who is a state trooper, and the 7-year-old child were released from Tri-Lakes the night of the wreck, and Heather Anderson was released from Baptist Hospital in Oxford.
 
The automobile collision pancaked the front of the Anderson’s SUV according to photos posted on Facebook.
 
“They are banged up, hurting and sore,” said Anderson of his brother and his family. “We’re just thankful they’re alive.”

Darrin Anderson credited seatbelts for saving him and his family according to his Facebook postings.

“I don’t want to be preaching but they will save your life if you are involved in a wreck,” Anderson wrote to friends on the social Web site. “I would not be here right now if I did not have mine on last night!”

The state trooper also used the Web site to thank friends, family and fellow church members. “I am so proud to have the church family we have and friends that care,” he wrote.

Details about the second automobile and its occupants are unknown. A spokesman for the Mississippi Highway Patrol did not return a phone call from The Panolian.

The Miss. Highway Patrol reported four automobile fatalities and 48 injuries on state highways from Friday, December 28, through noon on New Year’s Day.

Troop E, which includes Panola, reported 19 automobile collisions and 11 injuries during the same period.
The Clarion-Ledger reported at least 10 fatalities statewide over the extended New Year’s Eve weekend, including a DUI-manslaughter investigation in Neshoba County that claimed six lives. Duane John, of the Pearl River community, drove a Dodge Durango into a creek Saturday morning, authorities said.

Other fatalities were reported in Forrest County, Long Beach, and Gulfport.