Metro Atlanta
Metro Atlanta

Former QB was over alcohol limit in fatal crash on I-85

By Steve Burns
Nov 30, 2016

Former Air Force quarterback Dee Dowis had a blood-alcohol content level of almost three times the legal limit when he was killed in an August car crash on I-85 in Gwinnett County, The Associated Press reported.

Dowis died from blunt-force trauma to the left side of the chest, Gwinnett medical examiner Dr. Carol Terry concluded. Separate samples tested by the state crime lab showed blood-alcohol levels of .210 and .233, The AP reported. The legal limit in Georgia is .08.

Shortly before the accident, which happened about 4:48 a.m., Dowis was southbound in the northbound lanes of I-85 near the Flowery Branch Road overpass, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. He pulled into the center median and began to back up his 2014 BMW. As the car was backing from the center median, it was struck by a northbound vehicle on the driver's-side door.

Dowis was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, according to reports.

A Royston native, Dowis finished sixth in the 1989 Heisman Trophy voting.

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