Rollover crashes cause traffic nightmare in Colorado Springs

Several rollover, multi-car crashes caused major backups along the north and southbound lanes of I-25 Tuesday morning.

5 car accident along I-25 SB near Rockrimmon Blvd. S — almost cleared. Right lane still blocked. Cars merging left. @KRDONC13 @KrdoTraffic pic.twitter.com/cNxEdEC2fN

— Stephanie S. KRDO (@sksierra1) March 27, 2018

“It was a split second, I was trying to switch lanes, and then all of a sudden I’m in the railing,” said Neil Maison, who was on his way to work.

Maison hit a chunk of black ice and slammed into the guardrail along I-25 N.

“You think am I going to make it? Is everyone else around me ok?” he said.

Trooper Gary Schaaf with Colorado State Patrol explains drivers reaching speeds more than 40 mph in these conditions usually lose control.

“Your chances of maintaining control of your vehicle once it starts to go out of control are almost nill,” said Schaaf.

Within an hour, three major accidents took place along the north and southbound lanes of the Interstate. One car slid off a southbound lane causing a five-car collision. Just a couple miles north, a truck ran into a guardrail and rolled over causing significant delays.

“If you’re not paying attention to everything around you, things jump out at you pretty suddenly,” said Maison.

State Patrol recommends drivers track their speed by taking the current speed limit and divide by two in order to avoid these types of crashes.