Icy roads lead to nearly 100 collisions Tuesday morning between Pierce, Thurston counties
Dec 14, 2021, 12:40 PM | Updated: 1:22 pm
(Washington State Patrol, Twitter)
(Washington State Patrol, Twitter)
Washington state troopers in Pierce and Thurston counties responded to nearly 100 collisions on Tuesday morning.
‘Never seen anything like it,’ says trooper after semi-truck folds car in half in collision
Icy, wet roads made things difficult for drivers for most of the morning commute across the region — particularly between Lacey and Tacoma — with multiple incidents on I-5, SR 510, and SR 16, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation. That was also despite roads being pre-treated by WSDOT crews overnight.
In total, Washington State Patrol says that there were 95 collisions between the two counties on Tuesday morning alone. Sixty-three were in Pierce County, while 32 were in Thurston County. That had travel times slow to a crawl, taking drivers over an hour to go from Olympia to Tacoma, a journey that generally takes about half that time without traffic or stoppages.
#UPDATE – We are currently looking at 95 (!!!) #collisions in District 1!
63 in @PierceCo
32 in @ThurstonCounty
— Trooper Robert Reyer (@wspd1pio) December 14, 2021
In terms of what people can do to better prepare for winter driving conditions, WSDOT advises that anyone headed over the mountain passes ensure they have the right tires with good tread depth. Drivers in wet, icy conditions should always allow for plenty of following space between vehicles, while reducing speed when conditions begin to deteriorate.
You can check out more winter driving tips from WSDOT and state patrol at this link.
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