Driver in crash says she was rear-ended
Published 11:58 am Thursday, January 26, 2012
HAYWARD — The driver of an automobile that left Interstate 90, crossed a gravel road and stopped in a farm field on Friday was rear-ended by a pickup, the driver says.
Austin resident Becky Peters, 63, was extricated from her 1998 Chrysler Cirrus about a mile north of Hayward and taken by ambulance to Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin, where she was treated and released. She hit her head and hurt her back and neck. She said she has many bruises and aches.
“The car just kept going and going and going,” Peters said.
A Minnesota State Patrol trooper said a report on the collision is not finished but indicated the driver of the pickup was Gabriel Lane, 40, of Cottage Grove. He was behind the wheel of a 2003 GMC Sierra.
Peters said that driver, however, stopped, called for emergency responders and sought to help her. She said he told her a passing semi kicked up snow, blinding him.
“The semis go so fast on the interstate,” Peters said. “The cars cannot see a thing.”
The crash, followed by a long slide, happened during a snowstorm Friday. Peters was on her way to Walmart in Albert Lea.
Peters said she immediately thought she had blown a tire, but it was the sound of the back window exploding. She said she had been traveling at about 50 mph when the GMC struck her.
The Chrysler was a total loss. The time of the crash was listed as 9:30 a.m.