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Speed, cell phone use cause of fatal crash near Mount Horeb

Jessica VanEgeren  —  8/12/2008 6:17 am

Speed and inattentive driving are to blame for a fatal two-car highway crash near Mount Horeb Wednesday afternoon that left three people dead and one person with serious, non-life threatening injuries.

"We estimate the driver of the westbound vehicle was going 80 mph and using a cellular telephone when she lost control of the vehicle and headed across the median," said Lt. Steve Gilmore with the Dane County Sheriff's Office.

The driver of the wayward vehicle has been identified as 48-year-old Janet Indermuehle of Potosi. Indermuehle, her 15-year-old son Daniel J. Hall and 14-year-old Tiffany Marie Kastner were killed in the crash. All three, from Potosi, were not wearing seatbelts, Gilmore said.

Gilmore said several witnesses came forward and were interviewed by detectives Wednesday. Those witnesses confirmed that Indermuehle had passed several drivers while talking on the phone on her way back to Grant County, Gilmore said.

"She basically lost control of the vehicle," Gilmore said. "Unfortunately, the at-fault driver is deceased."

Gilmore added that because none of the passengers in Indermuehle's vehicle was restrained, there were several people ejected from the vehicle. All three were pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the Dane County Sheriff's Office, Indermuehle's Daewoo Nubira was traveling westbound on U.S. Highway 18/151 when it veered into the median, overturned and landed on an eastbound Chrysler 300M roughly two miles east of the village of Mount Horeb. The unidentified driver of the eastbound vehicle was taken by helicopter to UW Hospital.

Jessica VanEgeren  —  8/12/2008 6:17 am