UPDATED: 11:50 a.m. Thursday, March 3
COKATO, MN – Two Cokato teenagers were airlifted this morning after a collision on Highway 12 west of Cokato that occurred around 8 a.m., according to the MN State Patrol.
Kristina Pfannenstein, 17, of Cokato, was driving westbound in a 2004 Pontiac Sunfire, when she lost control on the icy roadway, crossed the center line and struck a 2000 Ford Ranger driven by Daniel Kotila, 29, of Litchfield, who was eastbound. Kotila was uninjured.
Pfannenstein, along with her passenger, Sade Clay, 17, of Cokato, were airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center. As of 11:50 a.m. Thursday, Pfannestein was upgraded to serious condition and Clay was listed in satisfactory condition, according to Christine Hill, media relations at HCMC.
Any updates on these two young people? I am praying for their recovery!
I can not beleive that road cannot be SALTED and SANDED between COKATO and the SCHOOL in the mornings!!
Sade Clay is my little sister. the venue, the upper room of dassel,mn will be hosting a benefit concert this saturday march 5th,2011; for anybody who would like to show support for the girls and their families. they tell me my sister is doing well and is resting. she will be home in a few days. Kristina is still being checked on but as far as i know she is getting better but please keep her in your thoughts. thank you to everybody who already has been sending their thoughts and prayers.
You will be in my prayers
This is such sad news and understand that both students are in really tuff shape. We were returning from the high school and came across this accident!!!
What I cannot figure out is why that part of U.S. Highway 12 is ALWAYS so SLICK with ICE. Another thing is… where was the MNDOT plow to sand the road? the wind was blowing 20+ mph most of the night starting at around 3pm Monday
and what was the Wright County Sheriff Deputy sitting along side the road with his lights off???? I know its not a law to have your lights on during the day, but How about a little common sense, what happened to “light on for safety” especially on a road populated by mostly young, inexperanced, sometimes inattentive/easily distracted, in a rush Students.
I am certainly not trying to place blame on anyone or any dept for this tragedy, I only can only hope that this will heighten the awareness of those that maintain, supervise and travel the highways and byways
At 5:30 AM, I drove eastbound on highway 12 going to the airport and cars were skidding in front of me. I believe Wright County highway department was negligent and responsible for not sanding since they knew the evening before of the snowdrifts and developing “black ice” over this stretch of road, which would have prevented this and previous accidents . I called Wright County highway Department after seeing the Fire Department extricating the accident victims and they said they also got a call from Wright County (sheriff dept.) Considering the numerous accidents on this one-mile stretch due to snow and ice why hasn’t the Wright County highway department planted shrubs on both sides as a snow barrier?
I can’t believe when there was an accident there after school on Tuesday that the road had not been treated before school on Wednesday. This accident did NOT have to happen. No matter what the cost to put salt and sand down…it cannot ever replace a young life. Since we have so many young people driving that road every day…it needs a priority treatment schedule!
I see that there is a caring bridge site for Kristina now. Everyone lets show support to the families of these young women!
John, Hiway 12 is a state hiway not a county road. So the State highway dept. would be maintaining that road
One quick point here - Wright County is not responsible for the plowing of US Hwy 12. That is the responsibility of MN DOT.
It is good to hear the two young people are doing better.
Once again, school should have been 2 hours late and wasn’t!! That stretch of road was bad on Tuesday afternoon!!!
Once again it is real easy to point fingers at the school district - it really is up to us parents to raise our children - we should decide if it is safe for them to be on the roads - if it is not you have the ultimate authority to keep them home. Let’s not play the blame game and instead direct our POSITIVE thoughts toward recovery for these two young ladies and their families.
WOW to go on national tv and make a confession like that!!
It doesn’t matter if she was tailgated, she shouldn’t have sped up under those conditions. It was still her fault, and some city slicker lawyer will have a hayday with that!!!!
I’ve oftentimes come on this website to check for updates on events like this one and all I ever read is negativity! I agree with “Dassel Mom of 4″ that we shouldn’t be pointing fingers and blaming. Instead, we should be praying for these girls and their recovery. Everyone makes mistakes. Also, thank you Shantell for the update on your sister. We appreciate it.
This is indeed a bad stretch of Highway 12. One Sunday afternoon we were driving on it, and couldn’t believe how slippery it was (plus how drivers didn’t slow down when they drove on it). I think it is especially bad because of the openess of the road and fields on either side. Perhaps if trees, shrubs or at the very least, tall grasses would be planted there it would help. It has been a tough winter for everybody and if we want to live to see spring I think we all need to slow down when driving on icy roads.