Four semitrailers crashed in quick succession on a slippery Interstate 71/75 Saturday morning in Northern Kentucky, creating a series of roadblocks that shut down the southbound highway until mid-afternoon. Even after two lanes reopened, traffic backups extended over the Brent Spence Bridge and back into Ohio.
According to Fort Mitchell Sgt. Mike Gross, three of the four crashed the same way: “All three said they hit their brakes, and the tractor-trailers went into a skid.”
It happens almost every time his community sees rain, he said. Gross believes the spot where 71/75 meets Dixie Highway — and where three of the four vehicles crashed between 8-11 a.m. — curves and banks in a way that makes it especially precarious for semitrailers.
No one was seriously hurt in any of the collisions, although one truck came close to disaster when it nearly jumped the median into oncoming traffic.
Gross encouraged drivers to slow down and stay alert in fall storms, keeping in mind that rain-slick roads can be just as dangerous as roads covered in ice.
“Just because the speed limit is a certain amount doesn’t mean you can go that speed limit when we have as much rain as we did in a short period of time,” he said.
Read more: 9 FIRST WARNING WEATHER ALERT DAY: Heavy rain most of Saturday
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