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The driver of the other vehicle, Randy Rusert, 54, of Utica, suffered minor injuries and was treated at Community Memorial Hospital in Winona, said Minnesota State Patrol Lt. Steve Stromback.
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The southbound lane of Hwy 61 was closed Monday following a four-vehicle accident. No one was injured.
(Photo by Melissa Carlo/Winona Daily News) |
The girl’s name was withheld pending notification of her family members.
The accident happened about 1:45 p.m. on Highway 14 about two miles west of Stockton. Stromback said the road conditions were snowy and slushy with a light drizzle in the air. The girl was driving eastbound down a winding hill in a tan-colored sedan. Rusert was going west up the hill in a gray sedan.
After impact, Rusert’s car continued into the north ditch. The girl’s car came to rest on the south shoulder near a guardrail.
The exact cause of the crash is still under investigation, Stromback said.
The highway was closed for more than an hour from The Arches to Stockton while crews cleared the scene and the State Patrol reconstructed the accident.
Hwy 61 Snow-capade
Four cars collided in a slippery dance on a snowy U.S. Highway 61 on Monday afternoon.
The accident happened about 12:45 p.m. halfway between Mankato Avenue and Huff Street. Snow was falling and only about a lane of the highway was clear enough for traffic at the time of the accident.
Cody Allen, one of the drivers involved, said he was traveling southbound at about 40 mph when a black sports utility vehicle traveling north crossed the median and spun in front of him and another driver.
A white Subaru was stuck in the median with heavy front-end damage.
Allen said he hit the brakes and attempted to miss both the spinning SUV and a red Dodge sedan in front of him but couldn’t avoid a collision with the Dodge. His white Buick clipped the vehicle and sent both into the unplowed shoulder of the highway.
Although the driver of the SUV was checked on an ambulance for injuries, authorities reported no injuries in the crash. The cause of the accident was under further investigation.
Lots of crashes/b>
Winona County Dispatch reported at least 18 accidents in the county Monday between about 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Thirteen accidents were reported within the city limits and five occurred in the county at large. Those don’t include accidents in which Winona responders were called to assist other agencies outside their jurisdiction.
Besides the fatal accident on Highway 14, dispatch recorded no injuries in those crashes. Most were the result of fender benders or people sliding into the ditch, dispatch said.
As of 1:30 p.m., the Minnesota Department of Public Safety reported 129 property damage accidents, 30 injury accidents and 112 vehicles in the ditch statewide, said spokesman Nathan Bowie.
When the snow flies, the department recommends drivers slow down, always wear their seat belts, keep extra stopping distance between vehicles and give themselves plenty of extra travel time. In 2006, 18 people died and 1,811 people were injured when road conditions were “snowy, sleet, hail or freezing rain,” according to the Department of Public Safety.
Contact Kevin Behr at (507) 453-3524 or at kbehr@winonadailynews.com. Reporter Amber Dulek contributed to this report.
