Blooming Prairie Teen Injured In Highway 30 Morning Rollover

An 18-year-old from Blooming Prairie suffered what the Minnesota State Patrol described as non-life-threatening injuries this morning after his car entered the ditch and rolled. Brent Weinberger of Blooming Prairie was swerving to avoid hitting a deer on Highway 30.

According to the Minnesota State Patrol, Weinberger was driving east on Highway 30 in Westfield Township when he swerved to avoid hitting a deer in the roadway. The 2002 Toyota Corolla he was driving entered the ditch after avoiding the deer. When the vehicle had entered the ditch it began to roll.

Road conditions at the time of the crash were described as dry.

Weinberger was taken to Mayo Clinic Health Systems in Austin with what were described as non-life-threatening injuries.

Responding to the crash with the Minnesota State Patrol were the Dodge County Sheriff's Office, Blooming Prairie Fire, and Blooming Praire Ambulance.

According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety:

Deer-vehicle crashes peak in the autumn months, but Minnesota’s large deer population makes them a safety hazard on the road all year long. Deer crashes are especially dangerous for motorcyclists — a group which accounted for 17 of the 20 vehicle-deer related deaths over a five year period (2015-2019).

• In the last five years (2015–2019) in Minnesota, there were 7,247 deer crashes reported to DPS, resulting in 20 deaths.
• These crashes also resulted in 121 serious injuries, of which 105 were motorcyclists.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety also recommends that motorists not swerve to avoid a deer in the road as "swerving can cause motorists to lose control and travel off the road or into oncoming traffic."