Two large commercial vehicles collided on the Cramer Road in Schroeder on February 21. Fortunately there were no injuries and little or no damage to the big rigs.
Curtis LaBoda, 32, Hovland, was driving a 2001 Cook County Highway Department plow truck on the Cramer Road. At approximately 2:30 p.m., he reached the Cook – Lake County line, where his plow route ended. He entered a driveway to turn around. As he backed out of the driveway onto the Cramer Road, he struck a 2006 Peterbilt tractor-trailer driven by Daniel Belanger, 41, of Atikokan, Ontario.
The tractor-trailer, registered to ASRDB Enterprises of Thunder Bay, was traveling the Cramer Road to avoid the railroad bridges at Taconite Harbor because it was carrying an oversized load. There was no damage to the Peterbilt other than the load’s tie-down straps came loose.
There was damage to the plow truck. The box of the truck shifted on impact and punctured the air tank for the brakes. LaBoda and other highway department workers were able to weld and repair the damage on scene. The repairs took about three hours.
Minnesota State Patrol Commercial Vehicle Inspector Dennis Suess responded to investigate and determined that the cause of the accident was “unsafe backing.”
A citation was issued to Belanger for failure to register in 2012 under the unified carrier registration agreement and violation of a special permit for Cook County for over-height, over-weight.
Leave a Reply