Snowy conditions mean busy day for auto body shops
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The snow has already done its damage for a lot of Hoosiers in central Indiana.
State Police responded to 68 crashes Tuesday alone.
Snow piled up along the side of the road and wet pavement were the conditions for many roads across the entire region.
Hundreds of plows and salt trucks worked to clear the roads all day.
Many of them area headed out again overnight.
But this weather is keeping more than just plow drivers busy.
“I would imagine this week from this spell here, we’ll see 25 to 30 cars,” Donnie Moorehouse said.
Donnie Moorehouse has owned Moorehouse Body Shop on the south side for more than two decades.
He’s seen many, many first snowfalls.
“With a day like today, it’s like people forgot how to drive in the snow,” he said.
He has a car in the shop that slid off the side of a road and other cars that slid into each other.
“Underneath damage, suspension damage, body damage where they slid into the back of somebody else and didn’t get stopped in time,” he said.
I-70 was closed for two hours Tuesday due to a number of crashes.
On top of those, even more cars got stuck in the snow and were left disabled.
Luckily, the forecast doesn’t call for more snow in the morning.
“Most of the roads that have been treated, so your major thoroughfares, they’re going to be fine overnight if they’ve got some treatment on it,” Storm Track 8 Meteorologist Marcus Bailey said.
But he said it’s the roads less traveled that will be a concern.
“There’s probably not been much treatment if any treatment, so if they’re just slushy and that’s all that’s been done through the day today, that slush is going to turn into ice,” he said.
Over at Donnie’s, the mechanics are already busy with Tuesday’s batch.
“It’ll be overtime over the holidays,” he said.
To make sure your car remains on the road and out of the shop, Moorehouse has these tips.
“Stay off your cell phone, pay attention to the roads, slow down, give yourself plenty of time and room, and of course one thing’s for sure don’t be in a hurry,” he said.
As temperatures drop in the coming days, INDOT will use a slightly different chemical on the roads than typical salt, which starts to lose effectiveness in those super low temps.