LAKE CITY — An accident on Interstate 10 near Lake City took the life of an Orange Park man and created a massive traffic back-up during the busy holiday travel season.

WJXT is reporting that Florida State Troopers said a Ford pickup driven by Jonathan Sizemore, 41 of Orange Park, was traveling westbound on I-10 in the outside lane passing the Columbia County rest area.

A Ford Mustang driven by Jacob Norris, of Houston, Texas, was also traveling westbound in the inside lane of I-10. A Subaru driven by Roy Cannon, 76 of Lakeland, FL, was merging westbound into the outside lane of I-10 from the rest area.

Troopers said the Ford pickup tried to change lanes to allow the Subaru to complete the merge onto I-10. The left side of the Ford pickup hit the right side of the Mustang, causing the pickup to lose control.

The pickup drove onto the median and overturned, throwing Sizemore from the vehicle. Sizemore was taken to Shands at Lake Shore where he was pronounced dead. His 4 passengers, Suzanna Sizemore, 43, Jonathan, 15, and Jared, 13, were hospitalized with minor injuries. Norris, Cannon and his passenger were not hurt.

Troopers said Jonathan Sizemore was not wearing a seat belt.

The crash remains under investigation.

Traffic on I-10 westbound was diverted to I-75 northbound onto County Road 136.

The back up was at least five miles at the I-75 interchange, witnesses said.