Authorities said Tuesday that they are looking into whether an east-central Minnesota teenager was texting and driving when she crashed her car near Hinckley and was killed on Friday night.
High school junior Haylie Samuelson, 16, of Pine City, was driving with a friend when they hit the lip of a driveway entrance on northbound County Hwy. 61 and rolled over shortly after 9:15 p.m., according to the Pine County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies found Samuelson dead. She had been thrown from the vehicle. Her passenger was hospitalized and is expected to survive.
Sheriff's Chief Deputy Steve Blackwell said "we've heard texting" and other factors might have led to the crash, but he wants to wait for crash reconstruction information from the State Patrol before making that determination. Blackwell said he expects to know more later this week.
"We see the value" of alerting the public if texting played a role in the Samuelson's death, Blackwell added.
"We don't want to discredit anyone, but there are lessons to be learned if it is that way."
Blackwell added that given that Samuelson was thrown from the vehicle, it's safe to "base some assumptions" that she was not wearing her seat belt.
Texting while driving is illegal in Minnesota, 34 other states and the District of Columbia, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
