Snowy Conditions, No Restraints In Use At Time Of Fatal Crash

Indiana State Police say a woman was driving too fast for snowy road conditions when a fatal crash occurred on Interstate 74 on Saturday.

Photo provided.

(Dearborn County, Ind.) – Indiana State Police say a woman was driving too fast for snowy road conditions when a fatal crash occurred on Interstate 74 on Saturday.

The crash happened just after 4:30 Saturday afternoon when  Hannah L. May, 25, of Okeana, Ohio, lost control of the GMC pickup truck that she was driving westbound on I-74 west of St. Leon. The truck rolled and came to a rest on its top.

A passenger in the vehicle, Kevin J. Gutzwiller, 33, of Hamilton, suffered fatal injuries in the crash. The Dearborn County Coroner’s Office pronounced Gutzwiller dead at the scene.

May and two other passengers in the truck – one of them a five-year-old child – were each hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. May was taken to Highpoint Health Hospital in Lawrenceburg. Alyssa A. Tucker, 22, of Cincinnati, was rushed to UC Medical Center. The child was taken to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

ISP Sgt. Stephen Wheeles said none of the people in the truck were properly restrained at the time of the crash.

“The investigation determined that the roadway surface condition was a contributing factor in the crash.  May’s vehicle was believed to have been going too fast for the existing weather and roadway conditions at the time of the crash,” said Wheeles.

The investigation is ongoing.

State police were assisted at the scene by Dearborn County fire and EMS agencies.