Cloudy
Snow, Ice Leave Dozens of Vehicles Snared in Ohio Highway Pileups
Accidents left one dead, at least 20 people injured
Semi-trucks and other vehicles involved in a mulit-car crash are strewn across westbound Interstate 275 between Colerain Avenue and Hamilton Avenue on Monday in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Cincinatti Enquirer, Cara Owsley)
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (AP) - Blowing snow and slick roadways in various parts of the state on Monday set off multiple highway pileups, including one outside Cincinnati involving at least 86 vehicles that left a 12-year-old girl dead.
The crash on Interstate 275 near the Cincinnati suburb of Colerain Township was one of at least four pileups that snared dozens of vehicles. Officers were called to the scene shortly after 11:30 a.m. and discovered multiple chain-reaction collisions.
The 12-year-old girl had gotten out of a damaged vehicle and was standing in the median near a cable barrier, a type of fencing made of rope-like steel wire cables, the Hamilton County sheriff's office said. Another vehicle hit the barrier, snapping a cable, which then struck the girl and killed her, office spokesman Jim Knapp said.
At least 20 people were taken to hospitals, though their injuries were not expected to be life-threatening, the office said.
The interstate was shut down for hours with wreckage strewn across it, authorities said.
"It was just chaos, absolute chaos," Hamilton County sheriff's office Lt. Tory Smith told The Cincinnati Enquirer.
The sheriff's office said the crash remained under investigation, but it noted that inclement weather was a factor. Snow had been accumulating on the roadway, and there were reports of ice. Visibility was poor.
Parts of the state saw scattered snow showers on Monday, with isolated pockets of heavier snowfall.
As many as 50 vehicles were in a pileup on I-75, between Middletown and Monroe, in southwest Ohio. A dispatcher with the State Highway Patrol said minor injuries were reported in the accident, which occurred just before noon.
State Highway Patrol Sgt. James Russell told The Middleton Journal that snow falling at the time of the pileup caused "white-out conditions" and possibly triggered the first drivers to lose control and start the crash.
Witness Luke Stevens, of Van Wert, told the newspaper he was in a vehicle at the front of the pileup.
"It was complete ice all over the highway," he said.
Four semitrailers and about 20 cars were involved in an afternoon pileup on I-71 near Mansfield, the state patrol said. And lanes of I-270 were closed temporarily following a multi-vehicle crash near Columbus.
RELATED ON SKYE: Epic Storm Photos from the Twittersphere
In Case You Missed It
-
Today's 10 Must-See Photos: 5-18-2013
Amazing and timely widescreen images from across the universe
-
Preakness Will Not be as Wet as Kentucky Derby
Showers possible but 'expect a fast track'
-
Alaska Volcano Shoots Ash 15,000 Feet Into the Air
Tremors increase from 8,262-foot Pavlof Volcano
-
Photos: Surfers Ride Massive Waves at Teahupoo in Tahiti
A big swell hit the infamous Pacific surf break this week
-
10 Hidden Dangers in Your Home
Make sure you're aware of these threats to your house and family
Comments
Add a Comment
21 Comments
When are we going to do something about all this senseless death from automobiles?!! All this talk of gun control, when 3 times as many victims die from Car accidents!! And here is this poor 12yo child, stripped of her life by a senseless need to travel in comfort and quickness.
January 22 2013 at 10:10 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyTragic!! Stop Car Violence NOW!!
That's right. We should immediately ban all vehicles with high capacity gas tanks and semi-automatic transmissions. Send your suggestion in to Obama.
January 23 2013 at 10:02 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWe should ban cars. They kill people!
January 22 2013 at 4:50 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down ReplyI agree people dont do nothing but speed and never watch the road ahead lol
January 22 2013 at 4:58 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down ReplyThere were two serious pile ups in Ohio that happened at nearly the same time. The local news reported white out conditions. A driver in one accident was quoted as saying that visibility was fine one moment and zero the next. And to the people blaming the road crews, the temperature was so low on that day that the salt would not be effective.
January 22 2013 at 1:24 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThat's bullshit and you know it! ODT employees always want to get paid for either doing a half assed job or they just dont do their job outright. Oh, and btw, they dont use just salt, its a salt/chemical mix so save that argument for someone dumb enough to buy it.
January 22 2013 at 2:08 PM Report abuse Permalink -2 rate up rate down ReplyAs you see from your replies, someone has to be to blame. Not the drivers in white out conditions or the cars or the snow. Gotta blame something, that can pay. Stupidity for driving in these conditions, is hardly a good place to lay blame.
January 22 2013 at 10:11 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyNobody wants to slow down and respect life for what it is…. no matter how many warning signs there are as a society we are getting good at ignoring the obvious. It's not like these people haven't driven in winter weather before.
January 22 2013 at 1:24 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyLooking at the pictures, it does not look like snow and Ice had anything to do with it... Maybe just bad drivers... I live in snow country and that looks like morning frost to me...
January 22 2013 at 1:21 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyColrain township and College Hill are communities that boarder each other , I live in College Hill 3 miles from ground zero , it was Sunny at 11:30 AM yesterday morning and all day , no snow or ice on the ground , it baffels me how in the hell a pocket of blizzard like snow and ice ended up hitting that small area and nowhere else , it's like someone had an ice machine throwing ice in a 1 mile radius , truly a freak of nature or someone's curse !!!
January 22 2013 at 11:24 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIt takes time to call the crews out. Remember they have to drive to work on untreated roads. They warm up the trucks and begin traveling to their route so it may take a long time before an entire highway is treated. The solution ? Simple, take you foot off the gas drive and slowly or get off the road until a sand/ice treatment/plow truck goes past then don't get too close but stay behind him.
January 22 2013 at 12:34 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThis is called ( **** HAPPENS ) LIFE IS A BEACH SOMEPLACE BUT NOT IN OHIO,IN THE WINTER.
January 22 2013 at 11:37 AM Report abuse Permalink -1 rate up rate down ReplyMY QWESTION IS WHERE ARE THE ROAD CREWS- THEY NEED TO BE SUED .THI ISN'T OVER TILL THE COUNTY IS DRAGGED THREW COURT .LIVES LOST? YEAH--SOMEONES PAYING FOR THIS MESS BIG TIME.
Cincinnati road crews do a fine job. And 275 is always clear and safe as fast as humanely possible. While these accidents are tragedy's the people to blame are probably the ones that were still driving 75/80 mph not the road crews.
January 22 2013 at 12:42 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWe had the same thing back in the Twin Cities,MN., before I got out of that area finally on December 18, 19 last year and live down here in Phoenix now! We had over 700 crashes, spin-outs, jack nifed trucks, flipped over vehicles on the main highways alone a week before that not counting the city, county streets and roads in 38 hours.
January 22 2013 at 11:31 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replyit does not surprise me about wrecks on 275 outside Cincy.....a few years ago, my hubby and i were going back home to illinois from Tennessee, and as soon as we crossed the Ohio River on 275 the road went immediately to ice!! we had to crawl along,,,,and we stopped counting vehicles in ditch after 50!! was a white knuckle trip all the way!
January 22 2013 at 11:29 AM Report abuse Permalink -1 rate up rate down ReplyUsed to live just a couple miles from where it happened, glad I moved.
January 22 2013 at 11:22 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply