Woman dies after car collides with farm equipment

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A long-time rural Grundy County resident died Sunday in an traffic accident involving a farm tractor transporting field equipment.

County Coroner John Callahan pronounced Dorothy Sebalj O’Connor, 83, of rural Minooka, dead at 6:10 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15.

The incident happened just after she had left the home of her son – less than a mile south of the where the crash took place – and was en route to her home on Minooka Road.

The crash took place on Sherrill Road, about half a mile east of Grove Road

Two farm tractors transporting field discs were headed west on the roadway at the time, Callahan said. The victim was going east and apparently drove her car onto the shoulder of the road to avoid the lead tractor.

After she had passed, she then drove back onto the roadway and may have overcorrected her vehicle, which was caught by the disc pulled by the second tractor, the coroner said.

Grundy County Sheriff Terry Marketti said it was dark outside at the time of the accident, and that it is possible the victim became confused by the lights on the farm machinery.

"We can only speculate, but sometimes the lights are confusing to people," Marketti said. "It's one of those unfortunate accidents that happen."

The sheriff warned motorists to be extra cautious because farmers are working late because of being so far behind with the harvest due to the weather.

He said it appears the two tractor drivers moved their rigs as far off the road as they could to accommodate the approaching motorist.

Callahan said the O’Connor car traveled several hundred feet before coming to rest in the south ditch of Sherrill Road.

“This brings attention to the time of year we’re in,” Callahan said of the harvest season throughout the rural areas and presence of slow-moving farm equipment on the highways.

O’Connor lived alone following the death of her husband three years ago, and had been around farm equipment most of her life, the coroner noted.



 

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