Kimball rural postal carrier Patty Nelson was nearly done with her mail route Saturday afternoon, Jan. 24. She was rounding a corner on 180th Street near the public access to Goodner Lake. She saw a car approaching from the east. Next thing she new, the car was in her lane and hit her head-on. Steven Rauchman, 41, of Albany was on his way to his fish house on Goodner Lake. He was cited by Stearns County Sheriff deputies for failing to keep to the right. Both Nelson’s Jeep and Rauchman’s truck were towed. Deputy Shirley Zwack, the responding officer, said that alcohol was not a factor in the accident. She explained that she issued a citation to Rauchman, and that he will appear in court next month at which time a judge will determine whether he was guilty. If found guilty of crossing the center line and thus causing the accident, Rauchman will be ordered to pay a fine. In Kimball, as in most small towns, rural postal carriers drive their own vehicles and pay their own vehicle insurance. They have higher premiums on their auto insurance because they use their vehicles for business. Members of the rural carriers union, they are reimbursed by the Post Office per mile for gas, maintenance and insurance according to a contract negotiated by the union. So what happens to the mail if the carrier is involved in an accident? In short, the mail goes on. Each rural carrier has an accident kit in their vehicle. Included in the kit is a list of specific instructions. Nelson followed the instructions: she first called 9-1-1, then the Kimball Postmaster, Scott Lindemann. Then she called her husband Terry. “I was just lucky Scott was home and I didn’t have to go down the list [of phone numbers],” said Nelson. She went on to say that the instructions told her exactly what to do, and that everything went the way it was supposed to. After Nelson’s phone call, Lindemann went immediately to the scene of the accident. He arrived before Stearns County deputies did. According to U.S. Postal Service protocol, Lindemann had three objectives on his arrival: (1) see if anyone was injured, (2) secure the mail, and (3) conduct a basic investigation of the accident – figuring out how it happened, and taking photographs for the numerous reports he’d need to submit to various departments. When the deputies arrived, Lindemann left to find another Kimball carrier to finish delivering the mail. “All the mail was delivered [Saturday],” Lindemann said, “just some was a little later than usual.” Since the accident, the Kimball Post Office has been business as usual. In his 26 years as postmaster, there had only been three other vehicular accidents on his watch. Nelson has been a rural postal carrier for about six years, two in South Haven and the last four in Kimball. “I like the job,” she said. Being on her own, out in the car, appeals to Nelson. “There’s something different all the time,” she said. “Some days there’s more mail, some days there’s less. Some days you get out of the car a lot for packages, sometimes you don’t. It’s never the same.” Nelson’s Jeep was totalled in the accident. She still has a lump on her leg, and she suffers from stiff neck and shoulders and frequent headaches. She does physical therapy and sees a chiropractor for her injuries. “Watch the road, and try not to get distracted,” Nelson warned. Lindemann also asks people to be careful. “You see the carriers out there. All the vehicles are marked. … When you see them coming, be aware that they’re going to pull over and stop. That’s when most accidents happen,” Lindemann said. “Just see them,” he added.
Postal traffic accident can serve as warning
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