Police warn drivers to stay inside after an accident

Milwaukee-- Both the Milwaukee Sheriff's Department and Wisconsin State Patrol are advising motorists to stay inside their vehicles if at all possible after a wintertime crash or sliding off the road.  

Video footage of two crashes drives this point home.  A massive crash near Germantown on Sunday, December 8, clearly shows the dangers of wintertime driving in Wisconsin. Although immense chain-reaction pile-ups are still quite rare, other single- and multiple-vehicle crashes as well as slide-offs are all too common this time of year.

The other crash happened on Tuesday, December 10 near the Zoo Interchange.  Four people are standing on the grass, waiting for police to arrive.  With their vehicles between them and the on-ramp, the people involved in the accident think they are protected from traffic.  But soon after another car loses control, hits one of the stopped vehicles, which then strikes one of the stopped vehicles and sends it barreling into the people on the side of the on-ramp.  The crash sent two people to the hospital with minor injuries.  

To protect themselves after their vehicle has crashed or slid off a road, drivers and passengers are advised to stay inside their vehicles if at all possible, according to the Wisconsin State Patrol.

“If you are outside your vehicle, you have little or no protection against vehicles that can easily slide out of control on slippery roads. Your vehicle provides protection if you remain inside it with your safety belt fastened,” said David Pabst, director of the State Patrol Bureau of Transportation Safety. “Unless you absolutely have to get out of your vehicle for an emergency, stay inside it, buckle up, call 911 on a cell phone or wait for a law enforcement officer to arrive.”