Wet weather conditions contributed to a scary situation to begin the New Year for a Red Level man and a vacationing couple Thursday morning.

Flavil Nixon of Red Level said he lost control of his Dodge 1500 pick-up truck after hydroplaning while headed south on Ala. Hwy. 55 at approximately 10 a.m.

Nixon’s vehicle was sent into a spin, traveled into the northbound traffic lanes and collided with a van driven by William Longworth of Nashville, Tenn.

Longworth said he and his wife were on their way home after visiting friends in Destin, Fla.

“We were going to stay longer (in Destin), but we decided to leave before the weather got too bad” Longworth said.

While an official determination as to the cause of the accident has not yet been made by Alabama state troopers, Longworth said it appeared to have been a simple case of wet roadways. His van exited the roadway near the County Road 107 junction following the collision, crossed a deep roadside ditch and came to a rest in an adjacent field.

“I feel bad for the kid driving the truck,” he said. “He started spinning around in front of us, and I tried to go right to avoid him, but we hit him right in the side. We flew over that ditch.”

Longworth said his wife was “pretty shaken up,” adding she sustained scrapes to her knees.

“She’s had knee replacements, so I’m just hoping there’s no problems there.”

No other injuries were sustained in Thursday’s wreck, and officials have not yet determined if excessive speed or a railroad crossing at the intersection were factors in the accident.