Distracted driving suspected in east metro crash that killed 22-year-old woman

Authorities in Minnesota suspect that distracted driving played a role in a car going airborne, landing on another vehicle and fatally striking a motorist sitting at a stop sign in Washington County.

Megan Goeltz, 22 years old, was killed. Goeltz was raising her 3-year-old daughter on her own and working at a nursing home in Hudson, said her father, Thomas Goeltz.

A Saab driven by 20-year-old Drew T. Fleming of Hudson, Wis., was heading north on Hwy. 95 Monday evening, when it crossed the southbound lanes and went into the ditch, the patrol said.

From the ditch, Fleming's car hit an embankment and went airborne into a Goeltz' Ford Fusion sitting at the three-way intersection on eastbound 22nd Street North, about halfway between Lakeland and Bayport.

Thomas Goeltz said his daughter's death "really hits home for me. I'm a safety consultant. I train people on distracted driving."

He has spent Tuesday "calling relatives and crying," he said.

While declining to be specific at this preliminary stage of the investigation, State Patrol Col. Matt Langer said it appears that Fleming was "distracted by several items in the vehicle at the time of the crash." Langer pleaded with motorists to do better.

"Decisions drivers make every day either mean lives are being saved or lives are being lost," Langer said. "You should not be texting a friend, searching for phone numbers, looking for a favorite song or messing around in the vehicle."

In 2014, distracted driving contributed to 61 deaths in Minnesota and roughly 25 percent of crashes, according to the state records.

Langer said that the continued loss of life amid the relentless drumbeat message from law enforcement about the perils of distracted driving "sort of feels like a never ending nightmare."

The colonel said what motorists are being asked to do "seems so simple. Just pay attention. … It's not rocket science."

Fleming, who has been cooperating with authorities, was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul for his injuries. A hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday that he has been released.

Reached by telephone, Angela Fleming said her son was not ready to speak publicly about "this horrific incident." She added, "He's devastated right now."

Goeltz, of Hudson, worked at the nursing home as a certified nursing assistant, the father said. It's the same facility she used to visit when the preschool she attended many years ago would bring the kids over to cheer up residents.

"She had an affinity working with the elderly," Thomas Goeltz said.

In Minnesota, it is illegal for drivers to read, compose or send texts and e-mails, as well as access the web while the vehicle is in motion or is a part of traffic. This includes sitting at a stoplight or stopped in traffic.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482