VAN BUREN COUNTY, Mich. — Wednesday’s Lake Effect snow leading to a pair of pileups on Interstate 94 near the Hartford exit.
“The drivers are typically driving too fast for these conditions,” said F/Lt. Dale Hinz with the Michigan State Police Paw Paw Post. “They end up following too closely and it results in those chain-reaction crashes like we saw again today.”
Those crashes happened on both sides of the highway. F/Lt. Hinz said the crash on the westbound lanes involved eight cars and three semi trucks. The other side looked the same.
“I-94, as we’re familiar with, starts getting a little bit greasy and slippery when we get that heavier lake effect snow,” said F/Lt. Hinz. “When people aren’t adjusting their driving accordingly we get the multi-vehicle crashes.”
It’s what happened on New Years Eve, he said. There were a number of small accidents that day. State police had to shut down almost a 20-mile stretch just to clean them all up.
"I get asked a lot: what does driving too fast for conditions mean," said F/Lt. Hinz. "It means you can’t stop. That's the bottom line. You have to be able to drive your vehicle at a proven speed that allows you to stop if you need to."
F/Lt. Hinz said fortunately there's only been minor injuries in all the crashes this winter season. A Coloma Township police officer was seriously injured in one Wednesday morning. According to the department's Facebook page a semi-truck slammed into his patrol unit while the officer was clearing one scene. He was taken to the hospital, released and is now resting at home. F/Lt. Hinz's suggestion for everyone is to take it slow.
"I know that people will cut you off," said F/Lt. Hinz. "I know that people will drive faster than what you want to drive out there on I-94. That's fine. Let 'em go. Just keep your following distance and adjust your following distance."
J.B.
“we’ll have more details when they become available.”
No need..
It is the same thing it always is..
An idiot or 4 not driving the conditions..
Speeding/Tailgating/Talking/Texting on the phone etc and a bunch of innocent people caught up in the results of the lowest common denominators lack of driving skills..wash and repeat…
In my experience it is usually some moron in a minivan with Nascar aspirations, slicks for tires, busy checking 20 important facebook posts all while driving 80+ on black ice in a whiteout.
Pure Michigan.
Evac
It happens more often than it should. It’s ridiculous. People don’t understand that salt doesn’t work at low temps.
Now That's Funny!
FOX17 says “We have a crew heading to the scene and we’ll have more details when they become available.” The crew must never gets there. Some times they don’t have more details for days.