Slippery Roads For Drivers

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By Holly Zuluaga

Summary

Snow and Ice contributed to dozens of accidents on the roads. That kept Washington State Patrol and tow truck companies busy.

Story Published: Dec 14, 2009 at 9:01 AM PST

TRI-CITIES--It's a dangerous job, but someone's got to do it.

“Last night one of our trucks almost got hit because someone was driving in the fast lane. We're in the middle recovering a spinout and they started losing control,” Ken Colon said.

Ken Colon and his partner Randy Dickenson own Action and American Towing.

They pay close attention to what the weather is doing and which roads are slick.

“The first snow we anticipated it. We had our team ready 6 or 7 trucks ready for the storm to come in,” Ken Colon said.

It's a busy time of year for tow trucks and for state patrol.

They count about 50 accidents between Benton, Franklin, and Walla Walla County.

Most of that was on the highways, but cars did spin out on side streets.
Most people get comfortable with snow and think they can drive on it, but when they get a patch of ice. It's all over and they just start spinning out.

Those spinouts keep the towing company busy.

“Being the first snow, people are getting their snow legs in and I think they failed,” Ken Colon said.

The roads look better now, but with more snow on the way, law enforcement urges drivers to slow down.

“If you don't have to go out and drive in the snow then don't,” Officer Shirrell Veitenheimer from Kennewick Police Department said.

“They need to adjust their driving habits to the ever changing road conditions. The 70 mph speed limit is for ideal road conditions, but when we experience conditions like this even 40 mph is too fast,” Trooper Brian Bond with Washington State Patrol said.

State patrol says there were more accidents than troopers available, so they called other law enforcement agencies for help.