Vehicle slides into Lake Mitchell due to icy roads

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A Mitchell woman escaped serious injury when her vehicle slid into Lake Mitchell Saturday.

Around 9:10 a.m. Mitchell resident 19-year-old Jessica Priem’s 1999 Chevrolet S-10 pickup slid off an icy Indian Village Road and into Lake Mitchell near the east dock of the Sportsman’s Club.

According to a report by Officer Kelly Loudenburg, Priem was driving too fast for the conditions.

Her pickup slid off the road, headed down an embankment, struck a tree and went into the lake, but only the front tires broke through the ice. Priem was able to climb out of the truck.

She was taken to Avera Queen of Peace Hospital for a checkup after complaining of a headache, police said.

Road conditions were particularly difficult Saturday on Interstate 90 from Kimball to Chamberlain, where icy conditions prevailed.

South Dakota Highway Patrol Capt. Kevin Joffer said specific details were not immediately available Sunday, but troopers handled trucks that went in the ditch as well as jackknifed semis.

“The ice caused us a lot of problems out there,” he said. “On Saturday morning we had traffic backed up quite a way because traffic couldn’t get up the Chamberlain hill because of ice west of Oacoma. Roads were so slick traffic couldn’t move.”

After a short wait, and treatment of roads by Department of Transportation trucks, traffic began moving again, Joffer said.

He said there was an injury accident involving a truck south of Presho on Highway 183, but didn’t have any details.

Farther north, Jerauld County Deputy Sheriff Mike Krueger said icy roads contributed to two truck accidents early Saturday but neither had injuries.

In both cases the trailer sections jackknifed in slippery conditions, he said.

One semi-rig slid off Highway 281 just south of Highway 34, Krueger said.

The second truck accident occurred west of Wessington Springs on Highway 34 when a trailer hit an icy patch and broke loose from its tractor and went into the ditch.

No tickets were issued in either accident, Krueger said.

While road conditions improved dramatically later Sunday, Mitchell area roads were still slick in the early morning hours.

At 9:33 a.m. Sunday a Salvation Army van driven by volunteer Ruth Sellen, and a 2005 Pontiac Grand Am driven by Matthew Nunez, both of Mitchell, were unable to stop in icy conditions at the intersection of Third Avenue and Kittridge Street, about two blocks west of Avera Queen of Peace.

Sellen had two juveniles in her van, said Mitchell Officer Brian Larson, but neither they nor Sellen was injured.

The collision occurred at an uncontrolled intersection, Larson said. Both vehicles arrived at the intersection at the same time and neither was able to stop. No tickets were issued. The van sustained about $800 in damages; and the Pontiac, about $1,200.

Nunez complained of a bump to his head, and drove himself to hospital to be checked out, Larson said.

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