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Driver’s Ed instructor killed in eastern Iowa crash

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July 18th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Janesville, Iowa) – A driver’s education instructor died and three other people were injured this (Monday) morning during a crash in eastern Iowa’s Bremer County. According to the Iowa State Patrol a 2014 Chevy Impala driven by a 14-year-old from Waterloo, was southbound on Highway 218 at around 8:30-a.m., when the wheels dropped off the shoulder of the road. The driver over-corrected, causing the car to cross the southbound lanes and the median, before it entered the path of a northbound 2010 Toyota Highlander SUV. The SUV struck the car on its passenger side. All the crash victims were wearing their seat belts.

The Driver’s Ed Instructor, 71-year-old Gregory Michael Harter, of Fairbank, died at the scene. The juvenile driver and a 14-year old passenger in the car from Waverly, along with the driver of the SUV, 44-year-old Tabetha Gehrke, of Waterloo, were injured in the crash. The two teens were transported by ambulance to Allen Hospital in Waterloo. Tabetha Gehrke was transported ambulance to Mercy One-Waterloo.

The accident remains under investigation.