The first weekend in April resulted in eight people dead on Minnesota roads with April 7 being the deadliest of them all. In fact, that day was the deadliest day of the year, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.

Three people were killed when a minivan rolled over on I-94. Two others would die in the Brooklyn Park and Shoreview areas.

Eric Roeske, a spokesman for the state patrol, said that there were a number of factors involved in the crashes. They involved seatbelts, speed, impairment, and inattention. While stating he was not trying to blame those involved who lost their lives, he said they are all factors that cannot be ignored.

One accident involved a woman in a single-vehicle accident where she ran off the road and collided with a tree.

Another accident involved a motorcyclist who ran a red light. A trooper had spotted him before the motorcycle accident and clocked him at 130 miles per hour through evening traffic. When he ran the red light, he crashed into another car.

A woman was killed while she was walking near an intersection.

Two more people were killed on April 6 when a two-vehicle crash resulted in the death of a 32-year-old man at an intersection just east of Rochester. The case of 66-year-old Marvin Jech, of Rochester, was the first fatality of the month when he was killed in a collision with a pickup truck. That crash involved four people with only Jech being injured and declared dead at the scene.

In all, that weekend has been deemed the deadliest weekend thus far, which included another accident occurring on northbound I-94 that involved three people being killed and five being injured in a three-car crash. Contact occurred between two of the vehicles for an unknown reason, causing one to go off the road. Another car went up onto the shoulder and then came back down onto the freeway, making contact with a van. The impact sent the van into the median before it rolled over. This accident left a 44-year-old and 80-year-old woman dead, as well as a 15-year-old boy. The others in the vehicle were injured with three of them being listed in critical condition.