'They all could have been avoided': Troopers blame drivers, not winter weather for numerous crashes around Metro Detroit

(WWJ) - Metro Detroit saw gusty winds, blowing snow and freezing roadways on Monday evening as numerous pile-ups and crashes were reported on local freeways and roads -- but state police said don't blame the weather.

"They all could have been avoided if drivers just would have been a little bit more careful out there," Michigan State Police First Lt. Mike Shaw told WWJ's Jackie Paige and Jonathan Carlson on Tuesday after a large number of wrecks kept authorities busy throughout the night, including a 30 to 40 vehicle crash that clogged Telegraph Road in Redford Township for hours.

"The road conditions weren't bad at all across the district," Shaw continued. "We had a little bit of snow. We had some wind, but basically all the crashes that we had from all over on the west side on I-94, to the semi truck that was driving too fast and lost control and overturned to the spin out crashes, were all driver behavior.

Shaw said the majority of the crashes were because a driver was speeding and suddenly had to stop.

"They slammed on the brake, lost control of their car and ended up crashing," he added.

Speed was to blame for a major crash involving a rolled-over FedEx truck in Farmington Hills on Monday evening that shut down the northbound I-275 ramp to westbound I-96 for over five hours.

MSP officials say the driver was going too fast for road conditions, lost control and hit the left guardrail, causing the empty trailer to disconnect and turn onto its side.

A passenger car also failed to break in time and lammed into the trailer, causing minor damage.

The same night, but on I-75 near Grange Hall, a plow truck spreading salt on the roadway was rear-ended when the driver of a Ford Focus couldn't stop in time, troopers said.

In all incidents, no major injuries or deaths were reported.

Shaw stressed that drivers should already be planning ahead when they see snow, ice, wind, fog or any other hazardous driving conditions outside.

"You automatically got to start to think, 'all right, when I get in the car, am I going to leave myself enough room between the car in front of me to be able to stop without slamming my brakes? Am I gonna slow down enough during these road conditions so if something changes, I can control my car?'" he stated. "Us as the driver, we are responsible for what our car does -- nothing else, not the road conditions, not anything else."

The winter weather conditions on Monday were nothing unusual for Metro Detroit, but it was the first major winter weather travel day after the listening area experienced several unseasonably warm spells with temperatures in the 50s.

Looking ahead, AccuWeather says Metro Detroit won't be seeing winter time conditions anytime in the next week as sunshine pokes through on Tuesday and Wednesday, with highs of 36 and 43 degrees respectively.

Then another warm spell moves in that will see Christmas Day highs in the low to mid-50s.

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