Oct 26, 2009 4:54 pm US/Mountain
Police, CDOT: Time To Prepare For Winter Driving
IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) ―
-
-
Cars backed up on Interstate 70 on Sunday.
CBS
Colorado State Patrol said people driving too fast for slippery conditions most likely caused a multi-car mess on Interstate 70 Sunday afternoon and they want to remind everyone to start preparing for winter driving.
Several accidents on I-70 on Floyd Hill kept the snow-covered interstate closed for nearly 2 hours.
It's not unusual for winter accidents to involve multiple vehicles causing traffic to get backed-up for hours. The impromptu parking lot stretched for about a mile and half. State Patrol blamed it on six different accidents along the slippery patch of road.
No injuries were reported.
"You know these first few storms people are still driving pretty fast and you just need to remember to slow down," Larry Dungan with the Colorado Department of Transportation said.
CDOT's plows were present on I-70 on Sunday. Roughly half of the 75 plows were activated for the storm, but even after they plow conditions can change in an instant.
"The plows make a round and by the time they get back around the road starts slushing up a little bit again before they can clear it again," Dungan said. "People get in that slushy wet stuff and hydroplane on it."
Some items are important to keep in a vehicle -- a scraper, snow brush, spare hat, gloves, blanket, first-aid kit, flashlight, matches and nonperishable food.
CDOT also wants to remind drivers to give the snowplow drivers extra room on the road to do their job.
(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Comments