INDIANAPOLIS — Many people walked out their doors Monday afternoon to unexpected snow and icy roads.
That includes Indiana State Police Sgt. John Perrine, who said they were not only surprised by the snow, but by the crashes as well.
"We are responding to dozens of crashes right now on interstates around the city," Perrine said. "Most of those don't involve injuries, which we are thankful for."
Perrine told 13News troopers investigated 168 crashes from 3 p.m. Monday, Dec. 2. to 6 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3.
He said drivers should expect for it to take longer than expected to get to their destination.
"Don't get a false sense of safety because your car is equipped with all-wheel drive. Although that is a great safety feature and will help you, it doesn't give you the green light to drive faster or high speeds on these roads." Perrine said.
Perrine said during snow events, ISP does their best to increase staffing. He said drivers can expect to see more troopers on the roads, working overtime and responding wherever they are needed.
"When it snows like this, it's all hands on deck. It's everyone who is available," said Perrine.
While drivers may see more officers, some are complaining about what they don't see.
Indy DPW posted on social media that they had 12 drivers out treating the roads Monday afternoon.
Indy DPW sent a statement to 13News saying:
"Snowfall began at about 2:30 PM yesterday and our crews were on the road around 3:00 PM treating the grounds for snow. Our teams remained active during and after the entire snow event and took special care to address bridges and overpasses, which are notorious for icing over and becoming slicker than street ways.
It is standard protocol to begin with a team of twelve drivers split evenly among each district and to deploy the rest of our drivers once their shifts begin. I can share that we had all of our drivers out on rotating shifts yesterday. The first shift ended at 11 PM, the next began at 11 PM and ended at 11 AM. This cycle continued through the snow event.
DPW takes the proper steps to escalate our snow response depending on the severity of the weather."
Early Monday morning, the Indiana Department of Transportation held a press conference about their winter weather training day. Hours later, though, motorists were wondering where they were. Many voiced dissatisfaction with INDOT and the condition of the roads on posts on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
One man wrote the roads Monday, "Were the worst (he's) experienced in 22 years ... not a salt truck in sight."
Another wrote they were stuck on I-65 for four-plus hours and were still not moving.
And another asked, "Why didn't you salt the roads today or Friday? Horrible crashes everywhere."
13News reached out to an INDOT spokesperson multiple times Monday about the state of the roads and they got back to us on Tuesday saying:
"Due to higher-than-forecast precipitation rates and accumulation amounts, INDOT was forced to react to roadway impacts during yesterday's snow event. As snow lingered, crews pivoted to utilizing rock salt in impacted areas mid-to-late afternoon and throughout the overnight hours.
While accumulations were light, generally under a half inch, traffic allowed the light snow to melt from friction and then refreeze from sub-freezing temperatures.
As always, we urge drivers to reduce speeds and travel cautiously during winter weather events."
An INDOT spokesperson said they had around 30 trucks Monday night.
Perrine said whether or not roads have been treated, drivers need to take it easy during conditions like this.
"Most of the crashes we investigate involve someone going too fast for the road conditions. Remember, the crash report will never put the road at fault," said Perrine.
Perrine encouraged drivers to give everyone some extra room.