State Patrol tallies 855 car crashes during, after storm
The winter storm that pushed through Minnesota on Thursday proved deadly for at least one motorist and injured more than 100 people.
Four state troopers were involved in the 855 crashes that occurred in the 30-hour period since the storm began. That's more than quadruple the typical number on a January day.
One person was killed in a crash on Highway 61 in Hugo, and two patrol cars were struck on the side of the road as they responded to the crashes across the state.
Tiffani Nielson, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota State Patrol, said drivers are going too fast, following too close and not keeping their eyes on the road.
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"Bad habits on nice weather days are not easy to correct on poor weather days, and the margin for error on poor weather days is very, very thin," Nelson said.
The crashes that occurred during the Friday morning rush hour included one that involved a State Patrol car. Trooper Kristie Sue Hathaway, who was sitting in her squad car just before 2 a.m., waiting for a tow truck to clear another crash on Interstate 494 in Eagan when she saw a pickup coming headed for her car in the rear view mirror.
"The moment before I was hit, I still was holding out hope that he would swerve or slow down, you know dissipate some speed that would cause the impact to be less, but he just kept going," she said. "There was no indication that he had braked or attempted to change lanes."
Hathaway suffered minor injuries in the crash. State Patrol officials say the driver of the car that struck the squad car likely will face criminal charges.