Anyone in Chicagoland get in an accident yet? I almost did

[Evadman]

I just got home from work ( worked overnight at Home Depot ) and all the roads around here were ice. I do not mean icy, I mean it was a skating park. On my 11 mile ride home down RT 59, there were 7 accidents, 4 of which were multi-car. There was even 2 flipped vehics ( one was a bmw, one was a yota truck. )

I allways drive around when the roads get bad to pull people out, but the undamaged vehics were few and far between. Only one actually, a school teacher in a van skidded off the road, and I was able to pull her back on.

I almost got into an accident tho right infront of me, a green chevy truck lost contol and skidded across the center lane, and hit a cube truck coming the other way. It was bad. The cube truck slid off the road, and the drive shaft seperated, while the chevy ended up about 3 feet shorter on the passenger side front The guy inside was out cold, but had a strong pulse and seamed to be breathing ok. The only good thing was, the accident was well timed, as about 8 cars behind the cube van was a unmarked police car, and about 8 behind him was a Nurse ( I am a ski-patrol'er so I have a good amount of EMT training ) We had all kinds of help on the sceene in seconds The guy was taken away in an ambulance, the driver of the cube van was just fine. the police officer wouldn't let me move the truck out of the street tho but I did get to help direct traffic fro about 20 minutes till the crash investigators came and took pics. That was the last cop who was not already at an accident, so I offered my services to direct traffic around the truck

So, any others have cool stories or anything?

 

[kazeakuma]

Glad I don't live in a temperate area. Icy roads is not my idea of fun.
Way to go on directing the traffic though

 

[busmaster11]

Was driving down 290 into the city new years eve night and saw this caw pull up to me on the right, cut across me in front, sped up on the left, tailgated the car in front of him, tried to maneuver around him, had his tires blow out, turned perpendicular, cut across three lanes to his right, cartwheeled and landed in the snow flipped over...

 

[Doggiedog]

That's terrible. Driving in snow is fun for me since I learned how to but there is no way you can drive on ice.

 

[SyahM]

Good job Evadman ... wow, i never realised that chicago area road can be that bad. I always thought Madison, WI area is difficult enough to drive during winter time .. surely one of the worse lah. Anyway, what kind of vehicle do you drive? A truck with chained tires?

 

[Evadman]

This is the worst I have seent he roads while I have been driving. If there is 8 inches of snow, everyone slows down. When there is just a dusting, and the road looks ok ( besides the center where the snow still was ) no one slows down. The problem was it seemed the snow melted, then froze as it got driven on making black ice. Everywhere I drove, I could see the shininess, but if you were not looking for it, you would not notice it until your car kept going striaight

when I jumped out of my truck to help at the accident, I finaly found out just how bad the road was. when I got out, I immediately ended up on my butt. ( funny as hell now that I think about it )I swear, it was like driving onLlake Michigan I had an easier time driving than walking.

SyahM; I drive a 2500 Dodge full size. Let me get my camera, I'll snap a few

<edit>
Here's a quick pic through my door. 1600 x 1200 446k uncompressed, I am too lazy. Also it is hosted over a connection that tends to slow down when it gets flooded

If you look in the upper right, you can see my street. you can see the ice there, but it is worse where it gets driven on. You can not see it at all, except for the shine.

 

[Evadman]

Up for the peeps just gettin' home!

 

[Choralone]

I was just in Chicagoland earlier in the week on a business trip. That goodness I didn't have to stay longer than I did. I was flying down I-90 yesterday afternoon on my way back to Iowa. Every tollbooth on the way out of town was like doing a 1/4 mile drag race.

We didn't get much ice here today, mainly a dusting of snow. But there were a few slick spots. Saw at least 2 vehicles off in the ditch on I-280 on my way to work this morning. I hope that's the last of that kind of crap for the season... Bring on the heat!