Iowa mayor dies after crash involving driver’s education car

JANESVILLE, Iowa (AP) — The mayor of a small northeast Iowa town died when a 14-year-old driver’s education student collided with another vehicle, authorities said.

Gregory “Mike” Harter, 71, the mayor of Fairbank, died at the scene of the crash Monday morning on U.S. 218 near Janesville, city officials said.

The patrol said Harter was in a vehicle being driven by a 14-year-old from Waterloo that went onto the shoulder. The driver over-corrected, crossed the highway and median and collided with an oncoming car, the patrol.

The driver and another 14-year-old in the car, and the driver of the second vehicle, were injured, the patrol said.

Harter was mayor of Fairbank since 2018, after serving for two years on the city council, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported. He was a former educator who retired nearly a decade ago as a school superintendent.