Single-vehicle crash kills Kalona man

KALONA — A single-vehicle crash on a rural Washington County road killed a 58-year-old Kalona man early Wednesday, Jan. 7, highlighting the persistent dangers of Iowa’s secondary roads even under clear driving conditions.

Deputies with the Washington County Sheriff's Office responded just before 8 a.m. to a report of an unresponsive driver in a silver SUV that had left the roadway near the Camp Creek bridge in the 2300 block of 140th Street. A caller told dispatchers the man inside the vehicle was unconscious and not breathing, according to the sheriff’s office log.

Investigators identified the driver as Russell James Lintz, 58, of Kalona. He was the sole occupant of a 2005 Honda CR-V and was not wearing a seat belt, authorities said. Emergency crews from Kalona Fire and Rescue, Kalona Quick Response Service and the Washington County Ambulance Service arrived within minutes, but responders pronounced Lintz dead at the scene.

“Further investigation indicated the Honda CR-V was traveling East on 140th street when it left the roadway South of Camp Creek Bridge,” the preliminary accident report stated. “The vehicle went airborne and struck the creek embankment on the East side before coming to rest on it’s passenger side in the creek.”

Investigators said weather conditions were clear and dry at the time of the crash and did not appear to be a factor. Deputies issued no citations.

Bulltown Towing removed the totaled SUV, while the Washington County Medical Examiner’s Office and Beatty & Peterseim Funeral Home assisted at the scene.

Crashes like Wednesday’s remain a common and deadly pattern across Iowa’s countryside. Data from the Iowa Department of Transportation show that while rural roads carry less traffic than urban streets, they account for a disproportionate share of the state’s fatal crashes each year. Transportation officials consistently cite roadway-departure crashes — when a vehicle leaves the travel lane and strikes a ditch, embankment or fixed object — as a leading cause of death on Iowa’s secondary roads.

Safety experts say rural road design often magnifies the consequences of brief driver error. Two-lane county roads frequently feature narrow or nonexistent shoulders, open drainage ditches, limited lighting and higher travel speeds, leaving little room for recovery once a vehicle drifts off the pavement.

Lintz worked as a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier in the Kalona area and farmed cattle and hogs. Authorities said the crash investigation is complete.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Kruse@southeastiowaunion.com