FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ) – Winter driving is a yearly struggle for many people in Wisconsin, and Fond du Lac County has been seeing their fair share of vehicles off-roading into snow banks in recent weeks.
“The road looked just wet, but we were right in that temperature range where that fog and mist touched the surface of the ground and instantly froze and caused basically a giant skating rink out on the interstate. It caught a lot of people off guard and we had a lot of crashes,” said Fond du Lac County Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt.
From the few inches of snow in northeast Wisconsin to the nearly foot of snow blanketing the southern part of the state, people keep running into issues while venturing onto the road this time of year.
“Certainly with the blowing and drifting we saw this morning, we had drifts that were over a foot deep. In some areas I was hearing deputies reporting up to 18-inch deep drifts,” Waldschmidt said. “What was maybe expected to be an inch or two, run of the mill, standard Wisconsin quick shot of snow turned into more of a significant snow event that hindered travel and safe travels.”
Last week, video captured a semi tractor-trailer jack-knifing on Interstate 41 and sliding into the median. Moments later, another semi lost control and nearly struck a squad car that was parked on the shoulder of the road nearby. There was also a four car collision on the interstate that caused other drivers to slow down.
“Surprisingly, it’s the opposite of what most people think. It’s the small snowstorms that cause the most havoc on our highways. The heavy and deep snows that we get don’t cause generally as many problems,” Waldschmidt told WTAQ News. “People can get going and can accelerate pretty decently and travel along at decent speeds but not safe speeds for the conditions one we only have an inch or two of snow…It’s when we get a foot of snow that you can’t even get going before you get stuck, or you just can’t get enough momentum to reach those higher speeds where you’d run off the road.”
When it comes to tips and tricks to avoid calling a tow truck this season, Waldschmidt says it’s all about being prepared for the conditions that are out there.
“If you have something really important the next morning, whether it’s really important that you get to school on time or to work on time, and you know there’s snow coming or ice coming or a chance of that, set your alarm clock a little earlier so that you can get up and get going,” Waldschmidt told WTAQ News. “It’s really about priorities, just driving for the conditions, and not ever being in a hurry. The more time you give yourself to get to your destination, the slower and safer you can go to get there…If that means skipping breakfast or skipping that cup of coffee in the morning to get to work on time, [and] give you that opportunity to take it slow and get there safe, that’s what we want you to do.”
He also reminds drivers to slow down and move over when they see emergency lights, because you don’t usually know what’s going on until you’re right on top of the scene.
“We’re not out there because we’re dilly-dallying around. When we’re out there and our emergency lights are on, we’ve got a mission. We’ve got a road to get cleared and get the vehicles out of the road that are disabled, and get the road fully opened up again,” Waldschmidt said. “If you’re not slowed down to a safe enough speed to proceed past that emergency scene, you’re going to hit our squad car, hit our firetruck, hit something in the roadway that we’re trying to use to block the lane of traffic and warn other motorists.”
Waldschmidt recommends utilizing the Wisconsin 511 app or online service. It provides real-time traffic and weather conditions that can be used to plan a safer commute.
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