To drive or not to drive: Motorists debate braving the weather

LEBANON, Ind. (WISH) – Blizzard conditions left some drivers coming from northwest Indiana stranded and stuck for several hours Wednesday.

“It was a complete sheet of ice with blizzard conditions,” Mike Coffeen said. “It’s just the cross winds. Very difficult conditions, and we had a lot of drivers up there weren’t doing real smart. It was a massive incidents of slideoffs. Trucks, and cars everywhere.”

“It’s a complete sheet of ice,” Jason Reese said. “Cars off the road, trucks off the road. It’s bad.”

As they made their way to Central Indiana, conditions slightly improved.

However, sleet and ice caused several accidents, causing back-ups and closures along the interstate.

“It’s a real sheet of ice,” Coffeen said. “Then you have snow. Then you have basically a rut, put your tires in, and if you get out you’re going to actually slide off.”

The bad weather struck early Wednesday morning. Some drivers decided to change plans.

“I was trying to beat it,” Reese said. “It was supposed to start by 9 o’clock, up by us.”

By midday, the sleet and ice stopped. But the rain prevented crews from treating roads ahead of time.

This continued to cause problems for people. 24-Hour News 8 saw a number of people who lost control.

And with more bad weather expected through Wednesday night, some drivers are thankful they rushed to get ahead of it. “Used to it up there because we get the lake effect, but you can’t prepare for ice,” Reese said.

“You just kind of take your time, get behind a truck,” Coffeen said. “We’re all trying to get to the same place at the same distance. You’ve just got to be safe. Some people are in a hurry and they didn’t make it.”