By Mondell Keck | The Brookings Register
BROOKINGS COUNTY — One person was airlifted to a Sioux Falls hospital following a two-vehicle collision on U.S. Highway 14 between Brookings and Volga on April 9.
The collision occurred at 8:31 a.m. and involved a 2012 Toyota Camry driven by Alicia Collins of Volga and a 2023 Ford Transit F-350 Brookings Area Transit Authority bus driven by Louis Whitehead of Brookings, according to preliminary information from the Brookings County Sheriff’s Office.
It happened in the eastbound lanes at a railroad crossing just west of U.S. 14’s intersection with 467th Avenue. Both vehicles sustained disabling damage and had to be towed from the scene.
“The driver and three passengers on the bus reported minor injuries and were evaluated at the scene,” Assistant Sheriff Dave Biteler wrote in a news release. “The driver and a front-seat passenger of the Toyota sustained what are believed to be minor injuries and were transported to the Brooking Hospital for evaluation. A rear-seat passenger of the Toyota sustained serious injuries and was later airlifted to Sioux Falls for further medical treatment.”
The rail line is active and, as such, the BATA bus has certain rules it must follow when encountering such crossings.
“We’re supposed to stop at the railroad crossings. Because we’re a passenger bus, we need to stop at the tracks,” BATA Executive Director Travis Bortnem told The Brookings Register. “That’s the law.”
He thinks the bus is a total loss, “with the damage the way it was.”
Bortnem noted that the accident wouldn’t affect BATA’s service to Volga.
“We have a few spare vehicles. It just cuts down on my spare ratio a little bit, so if we have anything that goes out for repair or anything, it could put a little pinch, but, no, we should be fine,” Bortnem said.
Responding agencies to the accident were fire departments from Brookings and Volga, along with ambulance services from Arlington and Brookings.
— Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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