Three drivers died in separate traffic crashes in Minnesota on Sunday.

A 61-year-old Maple Grove man died Sunday afternoon in a head-on collision in Mille Lacs County. The man, whose name has not been released, was southbound on Hwy. 169 at the intersection of Hwy. 27 when his Chevy Silverado crossed the centerline and struck a Ford Edge, according to the State Patrol. The man died at the scene. The driver of the other car, who also has not been identified, was injured and airlifted to a hospital in Duluth.

On Sunday night, a motorcyclist died in a crash involving three vehicles in Eden Prairie. The Honda motorcycle was exiting westbound Hwy. 212 onto Valley View Road when it jumped the median into oncoming traffic, striking first a Lincoln Continental, then a Cadillac CTS, according to the patrol. The driver of the motorcycle, who was not immediately identified, was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center and later pronounced dead.

Just a few minutes after midnight Sunday, a driver who had been drinking died when he crashed his pickup into some trees in northern Minnesota. The crash occurred near the southern shore of Swan Lake in eastern Itasca County, according to the State Patrol.

Killed was Nicholas J. Peterson, of Cambridge, Minn., the patrol said. There was evidence of alcohol consumption, the patrol said, and he was not wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash about 20 miles southwest of Hibbing.

Peterson's 30th birthday would have been this Wednesday.

The southbound pickup left Hwy. 65 and went into the right ditch, then hit an embankment and trees before coming to a rest overturned, according to the patrol. Peterson died at the scene.

His criminal history in Minnesota includes convictions for drunken driving in 2006, fleeing police and twice for drinking while under age 21.

PAUL WALSH and KIM PALMER