HOLLAND TWP., MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – A dog was the first casualty of the 2017-18 winter driving season along the Lakeshore.
According to Ottawa County Sheriff’s Sergeant David VanderPloeg, 59-year-old Gregory Wood was driving his car southbound on US-31 just before 11 AM on Thursday when, as he approached Quincy Street on Holland’s North Side, he lost control of his vehicle on the slippery road. The vehicle skidded left into the median, where it struck the van of 40-year-old Steven Frieswyk of Allendale. Wood’s car then veered into the northbound lanes, where it was hit by the northbound SUV of 67-year-old Charlie Johnson of Racine, Wisconsin.
Wood was pinned in his vehicle and had to be extricated by rescue workers, while a canine passenger of his died at the scene. The driver was taken to Holland Hospital in serious condition. Johnson and his 66-year-old wife Eloise were also transported to Holland Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries; Frieswyk was not injured.
The crash remains under investigation.