In Ashland, a town in New Hampshire, there was an approximate 35-car pile up including a tractor trailer.  The crash occurred when, after a sunny early morning, there was a sudden snow squall with white out conditions, and patches of black ice.  There was a lot of extra traffic, which was expected to be skiers headed to one of the 22 ski resorts in the area.  

There were nine people who were hospitalized after the crash.  Six of them left the hospital that day, and one person is still in critical condition.  The first 911 calls about a car crash came in at 9:45 am.  Many people reported a sunny morning, turning to sudden white out, and icy conditions.  Many also reported coming to a complete stop, and seeing other cars sliding past them.

One car got wedged under the tractor trailer, and then caught fire, which spread to some of the other cars.  In one car that caught fire there was a mother and three children.  They all made it out okay.

That pile up, however, is dwarfed by a massive 193 car pileup on Interstate 94 in Michigan.  This crash involved multiple tractor trailers, including an oil tanker, and a truck carrying fireworks that lit during the crash.  There was one fatality, and 23 people hospitalized including two of the firefighters who responded to the crash.

It took place in Kalamazoo County, Michigan.  There was heavy snow, pounding 35 mph winds, and low visibility causing the crash.  A video depicts multiple crashed cars and trucks, as well as cars crashing sending snow flying through there, and one even ricocheting off a tractor trailer and flying off the road.  Many stranded drivers had to go to a nearby school for shelter to get out of the well below 0-degree windchill.

Weather and crashes like this have caused roads across the country to close down, even major Interstates.  It’s crashes like this that should be a reminder for people to be prepared for bad weather, and if they think it’s too dangerous to go out, stay in.