A sudden whiteout is being blamed for a 150-car pileup in Michigan’s Portland Township that happened on Saturday, March 18. Fortunately, although there were 16 injuries, no fatalities were reported in the incident.
“Yesterday was one of those extreme circumstances where really the only one to blame is Mother Nature,” Lt. Michelle Robinson with the Michigan State Police told WLNS.com. “It was just one of those things yesterday where you had multiple vehicles that were on the roadway traveling and then all of a sudden the conditions changed.”
Speaking to 13ABC, meanwhile, one of the motorists involved in the accident said that he had been driving along the stretch of I-96 in question and conditions seemed fine. Vehicles were traveling between 65 and 70 mph (96-113 km/h) when all of a sudden, blowing snow completely obscured the road ahead.
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As a result, as many as 150 vehicles crashed on the stretch of highway, with some high-speed collisions taking place, and a number of drivers going into the ditch on the side of the road. Accidents first started happening in the eastbound lanes, but then started occurring in the westbound lanes, forcing authorities to shut the highway down completely for several miles in either direction.
After the accident, first responders reached the scene and took 16 people to a local hospital. None of the injuries are believed to be life-threatening, which Lt. Jack Peters with the Ionia County Sheriff’s office said was a blessing.
“That bridge is not a great spot to have accidents,” said Lt. Peters. “I’ve policed accidents there before with fatalities, so today we don’t have any fatalities, and I’m extremely grateful for that.”
Others who weren’t injured were taken to the nearby Church of Nazarene where they were allowed to find shelter from the cold conditions.