Video shows dump truck plowing into stopped traffic on Hwy. 13

A dump truck traveling at near highway speeds slammed into a line of stopped vehicles, sending car parts and debris flying and a severely mangled car into the back of a semitrailer truck, and it was all caught on video.

Pat Nelson had his dashcam rolling last Thursday morning when the frightening wreck occurred about 9:40 a.m. on northbound/eastbound Hwy. 13 near the Washburn Avenue intersection in Burnsville. Nelson posted the video the day after the crash and it has since been viewed more than 346,000 times.

A long line of vehicles had stopped in the right lane for a traffic light when the dump truck driven by Andy Stafford, 49, of Owatonna, rear-ended an SUV that was in the line of traffic. The violent impact pinned the SUV between the dump truck and a semitrailer truck that was two vehicles ahead. A Toyota minivan was sandwiched between the SUV and the semi.

Despite significant damage, nobody was seriously hurt in the crash. Kari Grittner, 54, of Savage, who was driving the Toyota, and Doris Weber, 49, of Chicago, who was driving the SUV, were taken to the hospital for treatment, said Lt. Tiffani Nielson of the State Patrol.

Stafford and the semi driver, Harold Kalvig, 70, of Glendale, Minn., were not hurt, Nielson said.

All of the drivers were wearing seat belts.

Neither alcohol nor impairment appeared to be a factor in the crash, Nielson said.

Stafford was cited for failing to use due care., Nielsons said.

The crash shows how fast danger can strike, even when road conditions are ideal as they were Thursday.

Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768