HOUSTON—Emergency responders were busy overnight and into Saturday morning as icy roads caused accidents all over the Houston area.
At least two of the crashes were fatal.
First, around 9 p.m. Friday, 11 News’ cameras caught a multi-car accident on the elevated portion of Studemont over White Oak Bayou, near I-10.
Several cars lost control and slammed into each other before police arrived to slow drivers down.
Around 10 p.m., a pickup truck headed southbound on I-45 near Crosstimbers hit a patch of ice and spun out. An 18-wheeler behind the pickup couldn’t stop, and the two collided.
One person was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, and the freeway was shut down for about an hour for cleanup and sanding.
At about 11:30 p.m., a car traveling southbound on Wayside lost control, jumped the median, crossed the oncoming lanes and smashed into a grove of trees. Police said the driver died on impact, and a passenger was hospitalized in stable condition.
Officers at the scene said speed was a factor, and they were working to determine if ice played a part, too.
At 12:30 a.m. Saturday, a pickup was heading onto the entrance ramp to FM 1764 at I-45 when it spun out, hit a wall and slid down a grassy embankment. The truck came to a stop in a field below the freeway. No one was injured.
About an hour later, a car spun out on the overpass at the North Loop and Main, hitting another car.
Just after that, a third car came along and smashed into the two disabled vehicles. Two people suffered minor injuries, but no one was hospitalized.
That scene closed the westbound lanes of the North Loop for about an hour.
Around 2:30 a.m., several cars lost control and hit the wall on the Pierce Elevated exit ramp to 59 northbound.
No one was injured, but the ramp was closed for several hours while officials cleared the scene and waited for sand trucks.
Then, at about 6 a.m. Saturday, a multi-car pileup on an overpass along the Gulf Freeway at Griggs prompted police to shut down all inbound lanes of I-45. At least one person was killed, but further details were not yet available.
All vehicles were being diverted to the feeder road, and inbound traffic quickly backed up.
About that same time, a Houston police officer was involved in a single-vehicle crash on Highway 59 at Bissonnet.
The officer was going down the freeway in his patrol car when he lost control – likely on a patch of ice – and hit a wall.
No one was injured.
In all, officials said there were more than a dozen accidents reported in the area.
Officials urged drivers to use caution, especially when navigating bridges and overpasses.
