![[Spencer Daily Reporter nameplate]](http://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/images/nameplate.png)
RSS
Print
Email link
Respond to editor
Read comments (14)
 |
| (Photo by Randy M. Cauthron) The flow of traffic is back to normal after a Friday night crash involving three vehicles on the Little Sioux River bridge. Three people sustained injuries and the crash remains under investigation. |
Three drivers were injured, but recovering after a collision involving farm equipment and oncoming traffic Friday evening.
Clay County deputies say 20-year-old Seth Small, of Royal, was westbound at about 9:51 p.m. Friday and attempting to get a 1994 International Harvester Tractor across the Little Sioux Bridge in the 2500 block of Highway 18.
The tractor and implement had already entered the bridge as an eastbound 1997 Ford passenger car approached.
"Once you're on that bridge, you're committed," Clay County Sheriff Randy Krukow said of the tractor operator.
The Ford, driven by 59-year-old Llewellyn Brown, of Algona, struck a portion of the farm equipment being pulled by the tractor.
"When you're coming across with a big implement, you have the lights on the tractor, but the vehicle coming in the other lane can't tell if there's six feet (of machinery) sticking out," Krukow said. "It was just a matter of timing, and getting across the bridge, before the next car came."
Brown's car went into the north ditch and struck a tree on the east side of the bridge, according to a sheriff's report.
The driver of the tractor, 20-year-old Seth Small, of Royal, stopped to check on Brown. Small was then struck as he was getting out of the tractor by an eastbound 2002 Buick, driven by 64-year-old John Lee of Graettinger.
Small was thrown over the bridge and landed on the ground below. Lee's vehicle skidded past the tractor, struck the implement and came to rest on the highway. Lee had to be extracted from his vehicle by the Jaws of Life.
All three drivers were taken to Spencer Hospital by ambulance.
Small and Lee were taken to Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D. Small is back at home with his parents and is expected to make a full recovery. He has been up walking after sustaining injuries to his legs, according to Gary Toft, whose brother owned the farm equipment.
Krukow has heard that Lee is also improving and he is listed in stable condition.
Brown was treated and released from Spencer Hospital after sustaining minor injuries. The tractor sustained $5,000 damage. The Ford and Buick are considered total losses.
Deputies were assisted by the Spencer Fire Department, Dickens Fire Department, Spencer Ambulance and Iowa State Patrol.
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please
If you have a vehicle that takes up more than one lane of traffic and you have to enter a spot where it is too narrow for another vehicle to cross, then it must be the law that you are required to have a scout vehicle (or persons) on hand to stop the cross traffic from the other side. There must be placed a warning sign for that traffic, and then they can be stopped. These farmers that think that they own the road are mistaken. I lived on Highway 18 for 12 years. It is very busy. Those with oversized vehicles should not be given carte blanche to do whatever they feel like.
I heard Small checked for the presence of traffic before attempting to cross the bridge. Being as the car drivers both failed to see the tractor (and one failed to see another car also) would you want to be standing in the middle of that road trying to wave them down? How would they see a person if they can't see tractors or other cars? In fact, Small was a person walking in the road along with the tractor and other car being there and was still hit.
Yes he was checking on the other person. Just another instance of a fine National Guardsman doing the right thing. Putting his own safety last. Happy to hear he is recovering.
You have to plan ahead and put signs and a cone up and get a team of people to slow or stop traffic to cross the bridge. Too much trouble? Too bad, it's not a county road it's a highway.
You can put up signs and have people watching and directing all you want, but if the people driving aren't paying attention, accidents are still bound to happen. I'm thankful noone was hurt worse, it could have been a tragedy, but thankfully it wasn't. I"m always amazed at the negative comments that are posted on the stories online. Maybe instead of saying "well they should have, or they need to, or they must have , etc. etc. etc. Maybe, just maybe we should say, we all need to be more careful and alert when driving because this could happen to anyone in any type of vehicle. And quit making judgments on how you think it should be.
I'm with the last two posters on this one. How much common sense does it take to see that a TRACTOR is going SLOW across a bridge and that there may be a DANGER if you try to squeeze through it? The first thing I do when I see farm equipment ahead of me is let up off the gas!! These guys/gals have been working long hours in the fields and are just trying to get home to eat a hot meal or to just finish up the job, they don't need your MOVE!!!!GETOUTTHEWAY! mentality messing things up. Slow down, give them room, and please, don't tailgate them!! It's bad enough that you're trying to "push" them out of the way, but you can't even see the oncoming traffic when you swerve to the left to see if it's clear to pass!
It may be a highway but this is IOWA. Everyone who lives here knows this is the season that tractors are out on the road and we are to watch for them. Most tractors are pulling something bigger than the tractor. It's common sense we live in Iowa corn fields all over the place tractors are going to be every where and as a person driving in iowa should be keeping an eye out for them and SLOWING down when approaching them. The car that hit Small, why wasn't he to a complete stop by the time he got to him? There was obviously something wrong, a car in the ditch and a tractor at a COMPLETE stop in the road.And as for Small being in the middle of the road, its wrong but hearing from him he checked for cars before crossing and was unable to see the car and being in the national guard and fire and rescue team for royal he was just trying to do his job and be helpful to the car in the ditch. We are lucky that they are all recovering from a few injuries and not going to funerals. Its just common sense when living in IOWA.
Molly,This farmer is just a hired on kid moving to his next field. Lets be a little more considerate of the farmers. There doing their best to put food on your table.
This was an accident. It could have been much worse.
Amen! Retiredarmysarge,thank you for saying that, I couldn't have said it better.
ok car weighs what 2000 lbs at the most tractor weights what 5 to 10,000 lbs plus a grain trailer thats about 2 or 3 thousand pounds i think the tractor has the right of way since it can easily crush the little car and my family are farmers their equipment is big enought to easily run over the car because it has so much tourque so tractor wins in a crash
I'm going to agree with many of the others that, while some farmers in the area could do with a little more courtesy towards those driving smaller vehicles, many of the farm-equipment related accidents I've known of could have been prevented by the driver of the smaller vehicle. Other drivers try to pass when its not safe to do so, underestimate the size of their own vehicle or the farm equipment, and take other risks to get somewhere, what, 5 minutes faster?
its not the high ways we have to worry about but the country roads because its like the stop signs aren't there for many drivers thats why farmers drive the equipment on the high ways because its to dangerous to drive on gravel roads because people go 60 to over 90mph which is very dangerous because gravel shifts under the weight of the vehicle which causes them to lose control and crash and farmers wont take the risk of getting hit by a person who isn't paying attention to what there doing because people just fly acrossed rail roa crossings and dont look for the train there was a car packed with people that got hit by the train when they were going across (you cant see the train very well any ways)and every one in the car was killed because they weren't paying attention to what the were doing and i think the familys tried to sue the train company, so in this acident shown above was it the tractors falt no it was the driver of the car's falt not the farmers and be respectfull of the farmers on the road and look out for them they ae the ones who grow the corn to be made into food and ethanol so they have a important job and there equipment is very pricey (like $200,000) for just one mechine or attachment so they should be respected and thought of
Pray for my Uncle John Lee, he's in critical condition!
Please continue to pray for my Uncle John Lee, who is still in the Hospital (now 6 weeks later)!
just a comment, I see a lot of people jumping to conclusions here, I know that IOWA farmers get the brunt of a lot of inconsiderate driving and probably this is a reaction to all that but: afletic, the news article says the tractor was pulling an implement, it did not say anything about a grain trailer (which typically do not stick out wider than the tractor), but the Sheriff's quote indicates there was an implement wider than the tractor, so this would be nearly impossible to see at 9:50pm. If you know first hand knowledge of the details, please forgive me. I'm just going from what the reporter says.