Car rear ends highway department vehicle

On Monday, Aug. 8, at 8:49 a.m., the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department was notified of an accident in Seneca Township on Highway 171 approximately .7 miles east of Stoney Point Road.   

A 1999 Nissan owned and operated by Haley Dougherty, 28, of La Crosse, was eastbound.

A 2008 Ford F350, pulling an air compressor, owned by the Crawford County Highway Department and operated by county employee Michelle Jones, 48, Mount Sterling, was also eastbound. Jones activated her amber warning lights and stopped to place cautionary traffic warning signs along the highway. Jones saw the approaching Dougherty vehicle and waited in her truck cab for the vehicle to pass. However, the Dougherty vehicle rear ended the county truck and trailer.

The crash’s impact spun the Dougherty vehicle around and it came to rest about 35 feet past the highway department truck, facing west in the westbound lane.

Neither driver claimed injuries. The Dougherty vehicle was a total loss and was towed from the scene by Scott’s Mobile.

The extent of the damage to the highway department truck and trailer has yet to be determined.

The highway department vehicle and trailer was removed by the highway department.

Dougherty was cited for operating without insurance and inattentive driving.