A 48-year-old Ridgeway firefighter died Friday night after his car slid off U.S. Highway 18/151, then drifted back into traffic and was hit from behind not once but twice. Collin Giddings was ejected from his 2001 silver Honda Accord in the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene near Mile Marker 55 in the Town of Ridgeway.
According to channel3000.com, the Iowa County 911 communications center received a report at around 8:41 p.m. of a vehicle in a ditch. Giddings had been driving the Honda Accord eastbound when it left the roadway and entered the ditch, the station reported. He then steered the car back onto the highway, where it was struck from behind — first by a 2012 Chevrolet Silverado and then by a 2017 Toyota Prius V, per the same account.
The nbc15.com identified the pickup truck driver as 22-year-old Cody L. Anderson of Verona, who was treated and released at the scene. The Prius was driven by 61-year-old Julia E. Allen of Fitchburg, who was taken to Upland Hills Health and later released with injuries described as not life-threatening.
Highway Closed for Hours Overnight
The crash shut down the eastbound lanes of US 18/151 for several hours. The lanes reopened at about 2:14 a.m. Saturday after emergency personnel finished investigating and clearing the scene, the station's report noted.
The Ridgeway Fire Department is now mourning one of its own. The Iowa County Sheriff's Department identified the man who died in the crash as Collin Giddings, confirming he served as a firefighter with the department. The sheriff's office said the crash happened around 8:41 p.m. near Mile Marker 55 in the Town of Ridgeway.
Investigation Continues
The Iowa County Sheriff's Office and the Wisconsin State Patrol are continuing to investigate the crash. Both agencies have been working the scene together since the collision, according to the earlier channel3000.com report.
The stretch of US 18/151 where the crash occurred falls within a roughly 35-mile corridor that the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration have been studying for broader safety concerns, running from the Dodgeville interchange through Iowa and Dane counties to just west of County PD in Fitchburg, according to a WisDOT corridor study. Planning documents tied to that same study describe a broader need to improve safety along the corridor through upgrades to at-grade intersections, per a related WisDOT environmental assessment appendix.
