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Icy roads blamed for jump in reports

Dispatchers received nearly 100 vehicle accident reports in Fargo and Moorhead between 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday. Icy roads caused the law enforcement log sent to media daily at 5 p.m. to be twice as long as usual. The accidents caused property d...

Dispatchers received nearly 100 vehicle accident reports in Fargo and Moorhead between 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Icy roads caused the law enforcement log sent to media daily at 5 p.m. to be twice as long as usual.

The accidents caused property damage but few injuries, said Fargo Police Sgt. Joel Vettel.

Six accident reports in the dispatch log involved buses, which Vettel said isn't unusual.

"They travel a lot of miles in the city, so they're bound to get in accidents," he said.

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Numerous accidents aren't uncommon at the beginning of winter, said Moorhead Police Sgt. Dan Griffin.

On icy days, motorists should drive slower than the speed limit, which is set for optimal conditions, Griffin said.

"You just got to reeducate yourself and remember to slow down," Vettel said.

An early morning collision involving two semis on icy Interstate 94 west of Valley City, N.D., killed the driver of one of the semis and snarled traffic for hours.

The Highway Patrol identified the victim as Dwayne Donouden, 42, of Estevan, Sask.

Authorities said Donouden was standing beside his parked semi along the interstate, about 16 miles west of Valley City, when another semi skidded as it slowed on the icy road about 6 a.m. and jackknifed.

Donouden was standing on the right side of his trailer at the time of the collision and was thrown under it as it slid into the ditch, the patrol said.

The other semi wound up across the eastbound lane of the interstate, backing up traffic for miles. The driver, Vincent Ferguson, 51, of Philadelphia, and a passenger, Treva Erry, 52, of St. Paul, were not hurt, authorities said.

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One lane of the interstate at the crash scene reopened at midmorning, and both lanes were open at noon, the patrol said.

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