A woman from eastern Iowa was hospitalized following a rollover accident this morning on Interstate 80, in Cass County. Cass County Chief Deputy Sheriff John Westering says the woman, 66-year old Susan Herman, from Cedar Rapids, was ejected from the 2001 Ford Explorer she driving as it rolled. She was conscious and breathing when rescue crews and law enforcement arrived on the scene. Herman was taken to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic by Medivac Ambulance, before being transferred to a hospital in Omaha for additional treatment.

Westering says the call about the crash on I-80 westbound near the 54-mile marker came in at around 6:40-a.m. The woman told authorities she was driving the SUV – registered to her son in Colorado – enroute to Colorado, when the vehicle hit a cable guardrail as it was changing lanes. The SUV spun into the north ditch, where it rolled several times, causing Herman to be ejected.

She was found lying in the north ditch. Westering said Herman was not wearing a seat belt, but in this case, her being ejected may have resulted in less serious injuries, as the roof of the Explorer was crushed during the rollover, and likely would have resulted in more serious trauma, or even death. Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $6,000.

Photo courtesy Mike Kennon, Cass County Emergency Mgmt.