MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Slick roads have caused hundreds of accidents in the city since Friday morning.
Streets are covered in sheets of ice, making it tough to get around whether you’re driving or walking.
“It’s like driving on glass,” said driver Will Askew.
Friday’s snow has turned into a dangerous, icy mess, leaving drivers struggling to keep control.
“Oh, I’ve seen so many cars fishtail,” Askew said.
He crashed into a telephone pole on Poplar Avenue near Highland Street Saturday morning, smashing up the front of his car and destroying the wheel.
“I tried to change lanes into the right lane on Poplar and just totally lost control. I was only going about 20 miles an hour,” he said. “[I thought] ‘Please don’t hit the pole, please don’t hit the pole.’ And then, I slammed into the pole.”
And walking isn’t any easier.
“Man, it’s been messed up. Just trying to come across the street just by itself, so much ice everywhere, slipping and falling,” said Marcus Williams. “I done fell quite a few times already.”
Williams was trying to catch the bus on Union Avenue Saturday morning when WREG saw him nearly wipe out on the ice.
“It’s been kind of hard to get around, especially if you ain’t got the right kind of gear or shoes on,” he said.
Some people are even walking in the middle of the streets, trying to avoid the three to five inches of ice that has accumulated on the sidewalks.
The Memphis Police Department has responded to about 300 crashes since 3 a.m. Friday.
Amazingly, no one was seriously hurt.
And city officials say they will have salt and sand trucks treating the roads at least through the weekend.
“Hopefully they get more salt on the street and sidewalks,” Williams said.
Saturday’s sunshine helped to melt some of the ice, but that will only make conditions worse as temperatures drop back into the teens and 20s overnight.
“People just need to be real careful,” Askew said. “Go super slow and try not to change lanes. Learn from my mistake.”
And it’s not over yet – Memphis could see a couple more inches of snow Monday night.
“Memphis got some crazy weather,” Williams said. “One day it’s warm, the next day it’s Frosty the Snowman.”
