A car driven by a visitor from Florida traveled on the opposite side of a highway along the North Shore and struck another car head-on, leaving the wayward motorist dead, authorities said Sunday.
Fla. wrong-way driver is killed in North Shore crash on Hwy. 61
Authorities have yet to disclose what prompted the Florida man to be on the wrong side of the four-lane highway, which is divided by a median.
July 12, 2015 at 1:10PM
The crash occurred shortly before midnight Saturday on Hwy. 61 near Salaka Road, about 20 miles northeast of Duluth, according to the State Patrol.
Killed was a 63-year-old man from Bonita Springs, a city on the southern Gulf Coast of Florida. His identity was being withheld pending notification of relatives.
The patrol said in a statement that the Florida man was "traveling northbound in the southbound lanes," when he hit the oncoming car. Authorities have yet to disclose what prompted the Florida man to be on the wrong side of the four-lane highway, which is divided by a median.
The other driver, Cole R. Dreschler, 20, of Cloquet, Minn., was hospitalized in Duluth with serious injuries, the patrol said. His passenger, Sarah J. Buscher, 19, also of Cloquet, was being treated for noncritical injuries in a Duluth hospital.
All three people were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
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