MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police are investigating after a speeding vehicle set off a chain reaction crash near interstates 94 and 394 involving multiple vehicles, leaving one person dead and several with injuries.
The fatal incident - which involved seven vehicles - unfolded around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday on the Dunwoody exit between I-94 and Lyndale Avenue. A report on the Minnesota State Patrol website says a Chevrolet Avalanche was traveling at a high rate of speed on the exit ramp when it struck several vehicles and inflicted severe damage.
The driver of the Chevy Avalanche - a 29-year-old man from St. Paul - suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The State Patrol says it appears he was under the influence of alcohol. A 20-year-old female passenger in the Avalanche was badly injured and is listed in life-threatening condition.
According to court records, the driver was previously convicted of driving with marijuana and an open bottle of alcohol in 2017, and driving carelessly in 2021.
Twelve other people were involved in the crash, including a 26-year-old Minneapolis woman who did not survive. She was listed as a passenger in a 2015 Jeep Cherokee, and her identity will be released after the medical examiner notifies the family.
Six other people suffered non-life-threatening injuries, including two children - one a 2-year-old boy.
It took hours to reconstruct the crash and clear the scene before the exit was reopened for Thursday morning traffic.
"All of these crashes are 100% preventable, every single time," said Lauren Johnson with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
MADD is currently working with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on regulations that would require all new cars to come equipped with sensors that would detect and stop impaired drivers.
"The technology for these vehicles to stop impaired driving, it's already there," Johnson said. "We can easily have it be in vehicles, and we know that this would save 10s of 1000s of lives."
According to a 2023 report by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, since 2020, nearly one-third of all fatal crashes were alcohol-related.
"It truly is heartbreaking because we see this happen again and again, and we are working towards a vision of no more victims," Johnson said.