Salt Trucks In Full Force After Dangerous Travel Conditions
CHICAGO (CBS) – Wet and slick roads brought the salt trucks out in full force Thursday morning with dangerous travel conditions.
A National Weather Service Freezing Rain Advisory just ended a 9 a.m. Thursday morning.
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli is in Mobile 2 with a check of the roads.
You can see the ice on the grass, but what you often cannot see is the ice on the road.
"Very scary. Very scary."
Hector Romero knows that from experience. He never saw the ice patch he hit until his Volvo was sliding off the Cline Avenue exit ramp right towards the ditch.
"I was scared because it was a ditch and I didn't want it to roll," said Romero, of Joliet.
Romero said his determination to get to work, ended up being a costly error.
"I should have been driving slower," Romero said. "Mistake on my behalf."
And he's not alone. A GMC smashed right into a tanker truck after taking this ramp too fast.
And a small car ended up on the side of the road after it was rear ended by a semi.
Another car slipped off Interstate 80 causing a huge back up as three salt trucks lumbered by trying to alleviate the slippery conditions.
Indiana State Police Master Trooper Lionel Douglas had already responded to half a dozen accidents when CBS caught up with Indiana State Police early into his shift.
When asked if people are driving to confidently, Douglas said, "They think its wet, but its ice out here and freezing rain. It is causing them to lose control of their vehicles."
He said truck drivers are often putting trust in their tire treads when they shouldn't.
The Indiana State Police shut down the Indiana Toll Road for about 45 minutes Thurday morning from mile marker 26 all the way to the Illinois State Line. That call came after more than 20 crashes cost officials to deem the road too dangerous to remain open.
