Men lucky to be alive after driving under semi

[September 01, 2010]  GETTYSBURG, S.D. (AP) -- A South Dakota sheriff said two Minnesota men are lucky to be alive after they drove underneath a stalled semi truck towing a flatbed. Potter County Sheriff Alan McClain said he's amazed the men were not decapitated.

McClain said the crash happened about five miles west of Gettysburg on U.S. Highway 212, about 6:15 a.m. Saturday when it was still dark. He said the semi missed its turn and attempted a U-turn, and the tractor wheels went off the road and the semi got hung up.

Potter said a pickup truck carrying 29-year-old Shane Hanson, of Clearwater, Minn., and 36-year-old Chad Fobbe, of Monticello, Minn., came down the highway and went under the trailer. The men were able to exit the vehicle.

McClain said both men were treated at a Pierre hospital and released the same day.

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Information from: Aberdeen American News, http://www.aberdeennews.com/

[Associated Press]

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