Up-and-down winter leads to crashes

Continued fluctuations between moderate and frigid temperatures this month, coupled with spates of snow, have left roadways slick. In just the past week there were several incidents of cars sliding off roads and some overturning.

In Cloquet on Friday night, Jan. 21, a bus carrying athletes from a game back to Two Harbors entered the intersection at Washington Avenue and into northbound traffic on Minnesota Highway 33. The bus, carrying 23 people, including the 71-year-old driver, hit an SUV traveling northbound on 33, the Minnesota State Patrol reported. The SUV, driven by a 28-year-old woman from Esko, rolled into the median. The driver and her young passenger were not seriously hurt. No one on the bus was injured.

Earlier on Friday, Sally and Tom Brown of Barnum were traveling northbound on Interstate 35 just south of Black Bear Resort Casino. A van passed them at about 8:30 p.m. and then veered into a ditch and ended up on its side near Carlton County Highway 61 where it passes underneath the interstate. Sally Brown, who posted pictures on Facebook from the scene, said her husband went down to the smoking van and helped five passengers out by cutting their seatbelts. The two adults and their teenage children were shaken up but all OK, Brown reported.

The state patrol confirmed that there was damage to the van but no injuries. Officers cited the driver for driving too fast under the road conditions, a failure to “drive with due care.”

On Monday morning, a minivan traveling south on the interstate in Twin Lakes Township slid on snow and ice and hit a ditch and then rolled, the state patrol reported. The driver and passenger, both from Moose Lake, incurred minor injuries that were checked at the Moose Lake hospital. The accident was reported at 10:23 a.m.

Jesse Buhs, acting Cloquet Area Fire District Chief, reminded people to drive cautiously. Firefighters often respond to accidents in the region.

“Periods of extreme cold can turn roads that appear to be dry into potentially dangerous and slippery driving conditions,” Buhs said. “Always drive with caution during inclement weather, and during periods of extended cold, acceleration and braking can be significantly more challenging.”