What a crazy day. I was driving with Tamera and my parents on interstate 70 this afternoon in a windy snowstorm, and we spun out on the ice. Our car spun two 360s, hit the median, and then spun back into the center of the interstate, where it stopped. Then we got hit by an oncoming pick up truck, but it was traveling very slowly without much impact to our car. Then we were able to move the car safely to the side of the road.
Never fear, everyone is ok! All four of us, as well as the driver of the pickup truck, are all unhurt. The traffic was moving so slowly in the storm that we just didn’t have enough speed to cause any major harm. We were driving Mike’s Cherokee (ironically, for safety), and that’s pretty beat up.
We ended up sitting on the side of the road for over two hours, waiting for the police to arrive and complete the necessary paperwork. It was bitterly cold outside, with steady traffic going past. We sang John Denver songs to occupy the time and keep our nerves steady.
Now all of us are home safe and sound. What an adventure.
Of course I have photos!
My mom had the foresight to take photos of the road before the accident. Actually the driving conditions were much worse than this during our accident — the wind had picked up and heavy snow led to poor visibility.
The mountain areas have had a lot of snow already this year!
I took this shot just after our accident. My dad was driving, and he managed the situation with grace and kept us all safe.
Oh horror! An accident!
No, really we were all smiling despite everything. What else can you do?
The accident happened at 3:30pm, but the police didn’t arrive until almost 5pm. Here we are in the rosy glow of the police car lights.
Here’s a view of the police lights through our icy back window.
Bits of our Jeep fell off and ended up scattered in the snow on the side of the road. Conveniently we had our accident at a mile marker, so the police could find us easily. That was good planning.
According to my iPhone, it was -8 degrees F in the nearest town by the time we left around 5:30. The wind was blowing intensely, so the wind chill must have been much worse.
Finally we got back on the road, and the roads cleared up as we got closer to Denver. We got home safely, but whoa, I’m tired.
Stay safe out there in the snow, everyone!
Hectic accident, glad everyone is OK!
Fabulous.
As usual.
You really do have an amazing talent and make every wedding look every bit amazing and magical.
Oh boy! Glad everyone is okay!
Whew! Glad everyone’s okay, and it doesn’t look like the car suffered irreparable damage either.
Whew! Glad everyone’s okay, and it doesn’t look like the car suffered irreparable damage either.
So glad everyone made it through safely!
And, didn’t you have an accident on a snowy road a few years ago, too?
Ugh…so glad nobody was hurt!
I do love your attitude though. I’d have been stewing like a bad pot of soup. Gotta love traveling the highways of CO in the winter.
Hugs and stay warm!
Oh my gosh! So glad you’re ok!!!
I stand corrected, thanks for the clarification!
Glad to hear that you and your family are ok! That snow is amazing and it’s even more amazing when we’re on the other side of the world sweltering in the heat 😉
im glad you are okay!
glad everyone was safe!!
I’m so glad to hear that you’re all all right!
-8F? Ouch.
Studded snow tires give you better traction on ice. Non-studded snow tires have less surface area on the pavement, so they have less traction on ice than standard tires.
I’m glad you are OK.
We don’t often get snow, so when we got 3″-6″ most of the city shut down. They interviewed one guy from Denver who said, “in Denver, we’d call this Sunday.” 😉 This week end we have real winter. 12-18″ with 1/2″ ice on top of it.
Wow! I’m so glad that you are all safe.
I also think it’s completely adorable that you sat in the car and sang John Denver songs. That is such a ‘my family’ thing. 🙂
We’d actually looked at that, but there’s two concerns – the first being that we need a vehicle to get groceries and such for the house, and the second being that there’s 10 of us and the rate, when split across two cars (an SUV and a minivan) is cheaper than doing the Colorado Mountain Express. Part of that is because I travel a lot for work and have free days with National though.
I think my solution is just going to be to check weather and roads before we leave home and drive very slowly on the way to Breck. 🙂
Thank you for this! I have always known, intuitively, that you need to slow down a bit before you actually hit the turn. It’s helpful to know the theory behind it.
Glad you guys are all okay!
I’m so glad you all are OK! That’s pretty scary. You all really handled it well it seems, though! 🙂
I’m so glad you’re all okay! Road conditions are tough in Seattle, too – and we drove about two hours to get a “princess castle” dollhouse for our little niece yesterday.
Colorado Mountain Express is an option.
Yikes! I-70 Saturday bad weather = yuuck! Great to hear that everyone was fine.
Jeeps and SUVs do allow you to accelerate better on ice, but you are right, for slowing down or turning, there is no difference from other cars. The best way to get additional traction is through the use of chains or snow tires. There are also ways to make the most of the traction you do have. This has really helped me:
Let’s say you have 100 units of traction to spend. You can spend them by turning, accelerating, or slowing down. If you are already doing one of those things, you are going to have a lot less ability to do any other. The most common thing people do is simultaneously brake and turn, which can be very dangerous. The best thing to do is to slow down while going straight, and then let off of the brake while actually turning. That way, when you do your turn, you have all 100 of your traction units available instead of significantly fewer.
I’m glad to hear everyone is alright… I just saw a suburban spin out and nail a bridge support.. hopefully he is okay…
OOOH! So scary, sweetie! I am so glad you are all okay…sad pics of the Jeep 🙁
Wow, those photos could easily have been taken in Wisconsin yesterday! This week, we’ve gotten about a foot of snow and -30 wind chills!
I’m glad you’re all okay.
Glad everyone is safe and you were all able to keep calm waiting for the police… that would have driven me batty! Stay warm, it’s very cold here (Chicago) today as well.
I’m glad you’re all right! I spun out driving on C-470 once and it was the same sort of thing–all in slow motion. Luckily, in spite of the traffic I didn’t manage to hit anyone and I just ended up with some grass stuck in my rims. D: It still shook me up pretty badly.
I’m actually flying back to Colorado today and I’ll probably be driving to Colorado Springs sometime this week–I hope the roads are clear!
Again, I’m glad you’re all fine. 🙂
Wow, those photos could easily have been taken in Wisconsin yesterday! This week, we’ve gotten about a foot of snow and -30 wind chills!
I’m glad you’re all okay.
Glad everyone was safe and only the car was injured!
Ironically, the one time I spun out on the highway I was listening to John Denver…the tape kept playing!
I am very glad you’re all ok and that it wasn’t a super super damaging accident!
Glad to hear you are ok!
glad to hear y’all are all right. and the damage, if the front left was the only strike point, isn’t even all that bad given you did two 360s and bounced off the median.
stay safe out there, charlotte. i’ve already enough bad news around this time every year that i don’t need any more, kthnx?
That is one nasty bangup on the car, so glad you guys reached home safe and unhurt. Take it easy for the next couple of days, you never know when the aches will start showing up.
Scary stuff!
Glad everyone is alright!
Safe
Glad to know you’re safe … and that the truck driver was being mindful of the weather conditions in his driving, which meant you are all okay.
Oh no, that’s so scary!! I’m so glad that everyone is ok. Your car doesn’t look too bad, but then I said that about my own.
yuck!! i can’t believe it took the police so long to get to you! good thing you guys didn’t freeze into little people-sicles.
Wow I am so glad everyone is ok! This makes me way nervous for the ski trip we’re flying up for in February! We’ll be renting cars in Denver and driving to Breckenridge, and we’re from the south – which means not a darn one of us knows how to drive in the snow.
I hope you’re getting lots of rest tonight, that is a harrowing day!
Glad you are all ok 🙂
so glad everyone’s okay!
Thank goodness you’re all ok! Today seems to be a day for accidents; this is the fourth I’ve heard about, and I almost got t-boned by a lady cutting across 3 lanes of traffic!
Driving on ice scares me for just this reason =[
Sorry this happened to you and I hope you feel well in the aftermath. Unfortunately, jeeps and other SUVs do nothing at all for the ice (and both my husband and I drive them and love them). I wish I knew WHAT does something for the ice.
Scary!
I am so glad you are okay! Dave and I drove back to North Dakota today to visit his parents- luckily the roads were fine. At least only the cars were hurt. Take care and have a Merry Christmas!- Katie Smith