Saturday's roads created problems for many drivers
MICHIGAMME -- Accidents caused by wintery road conditions kept officials busy Saturday. In some cases, they returned to the same location multiple times.
One stretch of road brought bad luck to more than one motorist, and in Holly Boshears 20 years of working at Michigamme Market, she's never seen anything like it.
"This has never happened here, ever," says Boshears. "It was unbelievable!"
Snow covered, icy roads brought some unexpectedly into their lot. In a matter of a couple hours, three vehicles were involved in accidents right outside the store, one resulting in personal injury.
The accidents sent Steve Juntti of Juntti's Towing back to the market several times, but he says returning to the same location soon after another accident, isn't rare.
"It happens in these kind of conditions; roads are bad," says Juntti. "Visibility can be poor at times, and then it's clear at times because of lake effect snow."
Officials say it all goes back to a simple winter driving principal: slow down.
"People are traveling way too fast," says Marquette County Sheriff Deputy Dean Rushford. "The average speed that I've been noticing has been about 50 to 55 mph, and in these conditions and icy roads, people think that it's OK to drive 55 mph, and it's not."
Although today was unusual for Michigamme Market, rough winter weather driving patches are common in the area.
"They get a little confident or overconfident in their traveling," Rushford said. "There's not a lot of, maybe, police presence, the roads look and seem to be in good condition, but underneath you've got glare ice."
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