RutlandHerald.com - We Are Vermont

Police: I-89 rife with speedy drivers, accidents this winter

  • Williston troopers attended to 40 crashes in one night



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    By THATCHER MOATS TIMES ARGUS STAFF - Published: February 7, 2009

    BARRE - Interstate 89 has been more treacherous than ever this winter, and speedy drivers are to blame, according to a state police captain.

    "We've never had this number of cars hit or even this amount of cars going off the road," said Vermont State Police Captain Daniel K. Troidl, the commander of Troop A, which includes the barracks in Middlesex, Williston and St. Albans.

    Troop A covers the bulk of Vermont's stretch of Interstate 89 - from the Canadian border down to Brookfield.

    To try to make the interstate safer, police cruisers from the three barracks will prowl the highway over the next few weeks, targeting aggressive drivers.

    "I don't want to see anyone get killed, and I don't want to see any of my people get killed," said Troidl. "I'm really worried about losing someone up on the interstate."

    So far this winter, both the public and police have been lucky, said Troidl.

    Five police cruisers that were at the scene of accidents have been struck by other cars, Troidl said. A fire and rescue vehicle was also hit. But police and rescue personnel have suffered only minor injuries in these incidents, he pointed out.

    There have been no fatal accidents on his stretch of the interstate this winter, said Troidl.

    The high number of accidents can only be attributed to speed, said Troidl.

    "Almost all of them were traveling too fast for conditions," said Troidl. "People aren't adjusting their driving habits."

    Three of the police cruisers that were hit were in the Middlesex barracks coverage area, which mostly covers Washington County. The other two were in the Williston Barracks coverage area.

    Most of the accidents have occurred in Washington and Chittenden counties, because the two counties have the most traffic.

    Three troopers from Williston responded to 40 accidents in one night earlier this month, most of them on the interstate, said Troidl.

    "They spent their whole night up there trying to get cars pulled out of the median," said Troidl.








    READER COMMENTS


    This winter I have noticed that the Vermont roads, during winter conditions are in horrible condition. One night coming up from the airport in Hartford, though CT and MA had as much snow as we did, the roads in those states were fine. As soon as I hit the VT border it was a skating rink. Five separate cars were off the road between the border and the welcome center, three more by the time I hit Brattleboro and another just on the north side of Brattleboro.

    Yes, in some cases speed (for the conditions) is certainly a factor, but the conditions could be made much better by better winter road management.

    It makes no sense, particularly with a salt shortage, to start throwing down salt on 3 - 6 inches of snow on the roads, leaving the plows up, when another several inches are still to fall. All it does is make a greasy mess, which packs to ice... that is whatever does not get plowed into the snowbank. I know salt and overtime for plow operators costs money, but I have never seen Vermont winter roads in such horrible shape in terms of snow and ice.
    -- Posted by Allen Kuusela on Sat, Feb 7, 2009, 8:25 am EST

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