One driver was issued a citation for a moving violation in the aftermath of the five-vehicle pileup Thursday morning in dense fog.
Michael Smothers, 55, of Perry was cited for failure to obey a stop sign and failure to yield the right of way after the semi-tractor trailer he was driving for Repp Construction LLC was struck from behind by a Farner-Bocken Co. semi-tractor double trailer, driven by Joe Ewoldt, 63, of Vail, Iowa.
According to a report filed by Dallas County Deputy Sheriff Taylor Hawk, Smothers was turning onto northbound U.S. Highway 169 from the eastbound off ramp off Iowa Highway 141 and apparently did not see through the dense fog the white Farner-Bocken truck traveling northbound on U.S. Highway 169.
Smothers did say “he observed a car coming from the north under Hwy 141 overpass and was suddenly being pushed forward from behind,” according to Hawk. The compulsion from the rear of Smothers’ vehicle was caused by Ewoldt’s vehicle as it collided with Smothers’.
The southbound car was a silver Ford Fusion, driven by Laurene Black, 58, of Jamaica, who was on her way to work in Waukee.
Black told Hawk that “she knew she was approaching the intersection of Hwy 141/Hwy 169, so she began to slow down.” She said she saw Smothers’ vehicle “pulling off the off ramp and northbound onto Hwy 169” and that the semi had “pulled out in front of her” when it was struck from behind by Ewoldt’s vehicle, which “caused” Smothers’ vehicle “to collide into her front end, disabling her vehicle.”
These two collisions were then followed by two more collisions. Traveling southbound on U.S. Highway 169 at some distance behind Black was a Ford F25 pickup truck, driven by David Claassen, 51, of Ogden. He emerged from the dense fog to find both lanes of U.S. Highway 169 blocked by Smothers’ and Ewoldt’s semis and Black’s car.
Claassen told Hawk that “he drove up on the collision” and “pulled his vehicle slowly off to the west shoulder of Hwy 169 to stop and see if anyone was hurt.” As Claassen “was stopping to check on everyone,” a third semi-tractor trailer was traveling northbound on U.S. Highway 169 and at some distance behind.
The third semi was a rig owned by Council Bluffs-based Commercial Terminal Service Inc. and driven by Gary Marxen, 70, of Council Bluffs. Marxen told Hawk “he came upon the crash scene” and “due the fog and low visibility, he was not able to see the accident scene in time. He attempted to hit his brakes and slow down but was not able to, causing him to collide” with both Smothers’ semi and Claassen’s pickup.
Black was transported to the Dallas County Hospital for a complaint of pain from collision, but fortunately no other injuries were reported.
Hawk concluded his report: “After gathering all drivers’ recollection of events, it appeared they were all pretty consistent with the crash scene and what the other drivers were saying. Through my investigation, it was determined the driver of Unit #2, Michael Smothers, was at fault in the collision. I cited Michael for failure to obey stop sign and yield right of way.”
Bouton Volunteer Fire Department Captain Karl Harris, acting as incident commander, confirmed the outline of Hawk’s report.
“I’m sure he couldn’t see that white Farner-Bocken truck through all the fog,” Harris said of Smothers. He said Smothers was probably traveling at the lowest speed of any of the moving vehicles involved in the multiple collisions. Claassen’s truck was struck while parked.
