Hundreds of Crashes Reported Across Minnesota Wednesday
BY MN CRIME STAFF
MnDOT traffic camera image shows the scene after an ambulance rollover crash in Inver Grove Heights on Wednesday evening.
Hazardous driving conditions across Minnesota led to hundreds of crashes Wednesday.
One crash involved an ambulance rollover in Inver Grove Heights that sent three people to the hospital with minor injuries.
> Sign up for the MN CRIME newsletter
From midnight through 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 18, the Minnesota State Patrol reported 468 property-damage crashes and 34 injury crashes statewide. Troopers also responded to 23 spinouts, 374 vehicles that went off the road and 29 jackknifed semitrailers as difficult travel conditions impacted drivers across the state.
One of those crashes happened at about 8:29 p.m. when state troopers were called to a single-vehicle rollover along northbound Highway 52 near Concord Boulevard in Inver Grove Heights. According to the State Patrol, the driver of an ambulance lost control and rolled into a ditch.
The two ambulance crew members and a patient being transported at the time were taken to Regions Hospital in Saint Paul with minor injuries.
Officials said there were no serious-injury crashes reported statewide during the day despite the high number of incidents. The Minnesota State Patrol continues to remind drivers to slow down and adjust driving for changing winter road conditions.
A powerful winter storm moved across Minnesota from Feb. 17–18, dropping some of the heaviest snow of the season and creating dangerous travel conditions statewide. Northern Minnesota saw the highest totals, including more than three feet of snow along the North Shore, while much of the Twin Cities metro received roughly one to seven inches, with isolated higher amounts in the south metro. Heavy snow and strong winds reduced visibility and made roads slick, contributing to hundreds of crashes as plow crews worked to keep highways passable.
