Poor visibility causes crash

White-out conditions contributed to a three-vehicle accident this past Friday that sent three people to St. Luke’s Hospital in Crosby.

The North Dakota Highway Patrol reported Monday morning that blowing snow seriously reduced visibility on Divide County Road 21 about 12 miles south of Noonan around 1 p.m. on Friday. A 2008 Chevy pickup driven by Robert Bryant, 28, Minot, was eastbound on the road with passenger Brett Olson, 49, Minot. A 2005 Nissan pickup driven by Stephen Higgins, 55, of Arizona, and a 1999 White garbage truck driven by Benjamin Eide, 22, Noonan, with passenger Charles Jaster, 50, Noonan, were each traveling west on the road.

All three vehicles were traveling the middle of the roadway due to snow drifts that created one lane of travel, the Highway Patrol reported. As a result, the Bryant vehicle and Higgins vehicle collided head on. The Eide vehicle traveling behind the Higgins vehicle struck the back of the Higgins vehicle, which again pushed it into the Bryant vehicle.

Bryant, Olson and Higgins were all transported to the Crosby hospital.

The Bryant vehicle suffered $15,000 in damages, while the Higgins vehicle suffered $20,000 in damages and the garbage truck suffered $1,000 in damages.