State police respond to crashes, disabled vehicles during snowstorm

As temperatures dropped Sunday evening, Virginia State Police urged motorists to avoid traveling overnight. VSP spokesman Corrine Geller said that wet and/or snow-covered roads were expected to ice, creating treacherous conditions for motorists across the Commonwealth.

Conditions Sunday ranged from snow-covered highways along the I-81 corridor and Northern Virginia to heavy rain across eastern Virginia.

From 12 a.m. Sunday (Jan. 13) through 5:30 p.m., Virginia State Police troopers responded to 324 traffic crashes and assisted 196 disabled/stuck motorists statewide. The majority of crashes involved only damaged vehicles, Geller said.

In addition to those totals, state police troopers continue investigating 44 traffic crashes across the state. While state police in the Richmond Division responded to the most traffic crashes, the state police Fairfax Division responded to the most disabled/stuck vehicles. There has been one storm-related fatal crash, in Brunswick County.

From 12 a.m. Sunday thru 5:30 p.m. Sunday, state troopers responded to:
Richmond Division: 107 traffic crashes & 29 disabled vehicles
Culpeper Division: 40 traffic crashes & 30 disabled vehicles
Appomattox Division: 28 traffic crashes & 13 disabled vehicles
Wytheville Division: 12 traffic crashes & 4 disabled vehicles
Chesapeake Division: 49 traffic crashes & 21 disabled vehicles
Salem Division: 18 traffic crashes and 18 disabled vehicles
Fairfax Division: 68 traffic crashes and 81 disabled vehicles

VSP investigated three fatal crashes since Saturday night (Jan. 12):
1/12/19 – Pulaski County on Interstate 81 (1 fatality) – STORM-RELATED
1/13/19 – Brunswick County on a rural road (1 fatality – 16 yr old male passenger)
1/13/19 – City of Norfolk on Interstate 64 (1 fatality)
Pulaski County:
At 8:51 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 12, 2019), Virginia State Police Trooper J.L. Simone responded to a three-vehicle crash at the 90-mile marker in the southbound lanes of Interstate 81 in Pulaski County.

A 1991 Oshkosh M1074 (military surplus vehicle) was traveling south on I-81 when its driver lost control due to the slick road conditions. The vehicle was then struck by two southbound tractor-trailers. The M1074 and one of the tractor-trailers came to rest in the median.

The impact of the crash caused the other tractor-trailer to run off the left side of the highway, continue through the median, through the guardrail, cross over northbound lanes of I-81 and strike a fence.

The driver of the M1074, Ronald W. Harris, 73, of Gainesville, Ga., did not survive the crash and died at the scene.

Each tractor-trailer driver was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. Geller had no additional information on the drivers.

The Virginia State Police Wytheville Division’s Crash Reconstruction Team responded to the scene and is  assisting with the ongoing crash investigation.

Geller said Virginians should call 511 or go to 511virginia.org for road conditions and not 911 or #77.  Those numbers should only be used for emergency situations.

State police remind motorists to take the following safety precautions:

· Clear off ALL snow and ice from your vehicle – windows, roof, trunk and lights…and use your headlights to make yourself more visible
· Add extra time to reach travel destination
· Slow speed for road conditions
· Increase driving distances between vehicles for increased stopping distance
· Buckle up and don’t drive distracted
· MOVE OVER for all stopped emergency vehicles, highway vehicles and tow trucks.