Two area men were sent to the hospital following a head-on collision south of Mountain Lake on 570th Avenue at 2:50 p.m. on Thursday, September 28. Both were the drivers and lone occupants of the vehicles involved.
Alan Coners of Mountain Lake was traveling northbound on 570th Avenue in a white 1995 Ford pickup when he came upon a tractor-trailer, also traveling north, waiting to turn left onto a farm site. The tractor-trailer stopped to let a 2006 Chevrolet pickup, traveling southbound, to make a safe turn into the driveway. The Chevrolet was driven by Joseph Wollmann Jr. of Mountain Lake, and was owned by Neuhof Hutterian Brethren of Mountain Lake.
According to a report filed by Cottonwood County Sheriff’s Deputy Dustin Miller with the Cottonwood County Sheriff’s Office, the Ford may not have been the tractor-trailer stopped and waiting to turn until the Chevrolet passed by, and may have been traveling at a speed that was too fast to allow for it to stop safely behind the tractor-trailer.
Because of the dry conditions of the gravel roadway, dust may have been a factor, now allowing Coners to be able to see clearly. The Ford turned to the left and into potential oncoming traffic to avoid a collision with the rear of the tractor-trailer. In doing so, it collided with the Chevrolet in its lane of traffic.
The Mountain Lake Ambulance Squad transported the driver of the Ford to Windom Area Hospital, while the Windom Ambulance transported the driver of the Chevrolet to the same hospital.
