Conditions contribute to multiple Friday accidents

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The driver of this vehicle lost control and slid into a shelterbelt a few miles north of Interstate 90 along Betts Road on Friday afternoon near Mitchell. (Chris Huber/Republic)

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Area emergency workers responded to a number of accidents throughout the region Friday morning as blowing snow and icy roads caused drivers to lose control of their vehicles.

One driver near the Miner and McCook county line on U.S. Highway 81 lost control of a car and was hit by a semitruck, totaling the back end of the car, according to the Miner County Sheriff’s Office. No injuries or citations were reported.

Elsewhere, icy roads caused a pickup to roll around 9:20 a.m. just north of Mitchell on state Highway 37.

The officer of record, Highway Patrol Trooper Grant Lubbers, said the driver was heading southbound on Highway 37 at between 60 and 65 mph when he hit a patch of ice and lost control.

Lubbers said the driver was taken to Avera Queen of Peace Hospital for minor injuries and was wearing his seat belt.

Following the melting that occurred Thursday and froze overnight, along with Friday’s blowing and snowy conditions, it was a long day for emergency responders.

“You just keep going — you just take care of what has to be done,” Lubbers said. “You have to prioritize and realize that if there is an injury accident, they need to be helped first.”

Sgt. Jeff Lanning from the state Highway Patrol said officers responded to about 12 accidents or vehicles in the ditch in the Mitchell area as of 2 p.m. Friday.

Lanning said “a combination of light snow, high winds and blowing snow caused a slick surface.”

“People need to slow down and not follow other vehicles so close,” Lanning said.

Lanning said most of Friday’s accidents were situations where people were overdriving the conditions.

Trooper Matthew Petersen said numerous vehicles slid off Interstate 90 along an area than ran from Exit 325 (Betts Road) to Exit 360 in McCook County. There were no injuries, Petersen said.

Troopers were busiest between 7 a.m. and noon Friday and the calls for help dropped off as winds diminished in the early evening hours.

In an unrelated incident that occurred around 4 p.m. Thursday, Petersen reported that Mallory Petersen — no relation to Trooper Petersen — of Sioux Falls was ticketed by Trooper Brady Fox for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle at the intersection of Highways 44 and 81 northeast of Freeman. Mallory Petersen, who was driving north on Highway 81, struck the right rear of a Gregory County ambulance that was running under emergency lights. The ambulance was transporting a patient to Sioux Falls. There were no injuries, Petersen said, and the ambulance, after a brief stop, continued on its way.

Daren Long, part owner of Dale’s A-1 Transmission and Towing in Mitchell, saw an increase in activity as well.

“We were very busy and did four or five tows,” Long said.

As of Friday afternoon, the National Weather Service forecast for Mitchell included mostly cloudy skies today with a high near 8 degrees and a north wind at 9 mph, becoming southeasterly. There’s a 40 percent chance of snow tonight and a forecast low around 3. Sunday is expected to bring snow, with accumulations of up to 2 inches by Sunday night. Sunday’s high is expected to be around 14, and the low is expected to be around 10.

The Daily Republic’s Ross Dolan contributed to this report.

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