50-Vehicle Crash Shuts Down I-75

A 50-vehicle crash in Ohio has shut down I-75.

No fatalities have been reported. WCPO reports that 18 people were transported to a local hospital with minor injuries.

According to Local 12, the crash occurred at around 11:30 a.m. this morning at the Ohio 122 exit in Middletown. Officials don’t expect to reopen the south bound side of the highway until 3:30 this afternoon.

An Ohio driver reported on Facebook:

” We’ve been stopped on I-75S since noon. We are about 150 yards behind the accident. For those criticizing people driving in the snow, this was a freak situation. Conditions went from dry and light flurries, to blizzard-like conditions (very low visibility, slick, etc.) in seconds. I had seconds to adjust and slide. We missed the pile up by 10 seconds.”

The Dayton Daily News reports that the crash was likely caused by the “white out” conditions in Ohio.

Luke Stevens, a man involved in the crash, said:

“It was complete ice all over the highway. Cars were coming straight toward us at 60 miles per hour…. we ended up getting hit head-on by a truck. We got hit probably 10 other times by other cars banging into each other. We were in a Buick. All the airbags were deployed.”

Ohio State Highway Patrol Sergeant James Russell said that the crash was being investigated but he doesn’t expect that any citations will be issued.