It was just another Friday afternoon on Highway 110 North, the kind of day where most folks are thinking about getting off work and heading home. But for Simon Slabking, a man from Troup, Texas, that Friday turned into something nobody in his family will ever forget. A reckless decision made by another driver in a no-passing zone cost Simon his life — and left an entire community shaken to its core.
Authorities say the crash happened just outside the New Summerfield city limits on Friday afternoon. A driver heading northbound decided to pass in a spot clearly marked as off-limits for passing. That split-second call sent that vehicle straight into the path of oncoming traffic, colliding head-on with the southbound vehicle Simon Slabking was riding in. The impact was the kind you don’t walk away from easy. Emergency crews rushed to the scene almost immediately.
Simon was pulled from the wreckage and loaded up fast. First responders worked to keep him alive as they transported him for medical treatment. His loved ones held onto hope. But that hope didn’t last long. Simon Slabking died en route to the hospital, never making it through those doors alive. The people who loved him had to receive the worst kind of news a family can get — that the man they were waiting on wasn’t coming back.
The driver who caused it all — a man from Mount Enterprise traveling northbound — also didn’t survive. He was pronounced dead right there at the scene. Cherokee County Judge Rodney Wallace was called out, and an autopsy has since been ordered for the northbound driver. Investigators are working to piece together exactly what happened in those final seconds before the crash.
Highway 110 North was shut down for several hours as multiple agencies worked the scene. Texas DPS, New Summerfield Police, and the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office all responded to help. The highway didn’t reopen until around 8:30 that evening, leaving motorists stranded and reminding everyone in the area just how deadly a single bad decision on the road can be.
Texas DPS is now leading the investigation. The identities of both victims were being withheld at the time of reporting, pending notification to next of kin. Loved ones, however, confirmed Simon Slabking’s identity, putting a name and a face to a tragedy that official reports initially kept anonymous.
Simon’s story is, sadly, one that plays out on American highways far too often. A man heading somewhere, doing nothing wrong, taken out by someone else’s impatience behind the wheel. No-passing zones exist for a reason. They’re painted on roads and posted on signs because people have died exactly where they’re marked. And on this particular Friday on Highway 110 North, that warning wasn’t heeded — and Simon Slabking paid the price for it with his life.
