At least one person is dead and 30 others injured after a massive 104-car pileup on I-25 in Denver, Colo. Saturday, as winter weather moved its way in. KMGH reports the pileup closed a stretch of I-25 for more than four hours.
That crash brought traffic in the northbound lanes to a stop just before 11:00 Saturday morning, with traffic backed up for more than a mile.
KUSA notes a passenger in that orange car, smashed under a semi, was the one who didn't make it. So far her name hasn't been released, but police say she was a woman. The driver was taken to the hospital.
KCNC adds investigators aren't sure what caused the traffic tie-up, but that weather factors including ice and fog might have played a role.
"I saw red lights. The next thing you know, I'm underneath somebody else's car. ... I felt like that windshield would've kept caving in if I kept getting hit."
"Literally just whited out, and my brakes weren't stopping. And then all of a sudden, cars just started hitting everybody."
The Denver Post reports heavy snow was falling at the time of the accidents, but it moved out shortly after — bringing down less than two inches of snow to the Denver area.
This winter has had its fair share of large pileups.
Just two weeks ago, WPVI reported more than 75 cars were involved in a massive pileup on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. That pileup was blamed on the weather and drivers going too fast.
And USA Today found that between Dec. 1 and late January there was at least one pileup a day. In all of 2013 there were 107 highway pileups, and more than half of those were tied to weather.
KUSA reports many of the drivers involved in Saturday's pileups were driving more than 60 miles per hour right before crashing. One driver told The Denver Post, had people been driving a little slower, the crashes could have been prevented.
