Snow and Ice Cause Multiple Car Accidents in the Area

The metro saw its first snowfall this morning and the freshly iced roads were a hassle for many drivers.
 
Law enforcement has responded to several car crashes throughout the day.

The roads have cleared up for the most part now.

The area only got a recorded less of inch of snow, but it was this morning were drivers we’re having the hardest time.
 
Officials say the early morning rush hour from 6am to 9am was when the roads were the iciest.

During those hours the Minnesota State Patrol responded to 13 accidents,and five of those involved rollovers in western Minnesota.
 
“We definitely want to send that message getting people to remember winter is here things change out here. Slow down, allow more time for travel,” says Sgt. Jesse Grabow of the Minnesota State Patrol.
 
Grabow says the numbers are typical to what they’ve seen in the past.
 
“it’s just one of those things where people have lost their skills there’s a little bit of a learning curve involved to get your snow feet, snow shoes I guess underneath you,” says Grabow.
 
To ensure that the roads were as safe as possible, Fargo Public works had salt crews out as early as 6am.
 
“Our overnight guys were watching it last night, waiting for it to kind of turn and get a little slippery, and it just never happened till six o’clock this morning,” says Ben Dow of Fargo Public Works.
 
Dow says they didn’t sand, but they did use salt.
 
“We’re using straight salt today were using very light amount, running about 150 to 200 pounds per lane,” says Dow.
 
Commuters like Phillip Stahal of Hawley says battling the icy roads doubled his usual travel time.
 
“It took longer to get from Moorhead to West Fargo then it did to get from Hawley to Moorhead, so it was just glare ice it was pretty scary but we made it,” says Stahal.
 
Fargo police responded to a total of 32 crashes before noon, and Grand Forks also had a total of 23 crashes during the morning hours.