About an inch of snowfall hit the Summit city yesterday. That might not sounds like a lot but it contributed to 67 car accidents.
Raquel Foster, the spokesperson for the Fort Wayne Police Department, says “We don't usually see that many automobile accidents. This was however the first snowfall of the season and to be honest with you we do know with the first snowfall come automobile accidents.”
Outside Fort Wayne state police responded to 12 crashes. In Huntington County reported 14. Sgt. Ron Galaviz, the spokesperson for the IN State Police, says “There was a crash yesterday at 89 mile marker of Huntington County yesterday evening during the commute that shut the road down for a couple of hours.”
This crash along I - 69 backed-up traffic and left cars at a stand still. I.N.D.O.T. spokesperson Stacie McCormick says their trucks were out all day. Yesterday's storm was expected, but roads were not pre-treated with salt. I.N.D.O.T. says they don't have a rule on when they pre-treat roads.
McCormick says “There's a cost to salt, so just to lay salt on a dry road doesn't make a lot of sense. When we go out and patrol, we make those decisions based on the road conditions at the time.”
The city of Fort Wayne says they also had their salt trucks out all day. But when the storm hit its strongest peak during rush hour, their trucks were stuck in traffic with everyone else.
Police say bottom line weather isn't to blame for the accidents. Galaviz says “Snow and Ice does not cause crashes. That's a fallacy that's a misnomer. Our driving behavior causes crashes. But weather conditions are a contributing factor.”
Police encourage drivers to slow down, allow plenty of time to get where you're going, and don't follow too closely.
