A number of crashes and slide-offs were reported across the Chicago area and northwest Indiana Saturday evening as freezing drizzle combined with cold temperatures led to treacherous travel conditions.
Just before 4 p.m., the National Weather Service in Chicago tweeted that accidents were increasing across the area, urging people to say off the roads if possible.
With dangerous travel conditions expected to continue, a winter weather advisory remains in effect until 9 p.m. for Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, LaSalle, Lake, McHenry and Will counties in Illinois as well as Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Newton and Porter counties in northwest Indiana.
With temperatures below freezing, drizzle is expected to make for icy conditions, particularly on sidewalks, parking lots, bridges, overpasses and secondary roads.
Sgt. Glen Fifield, public information officer for the Indiana State Police Lowell post, tweeted both Interstate 65 and Interstate 80 were “littered with crashes,” pleading with motorists to slow down.
“Cars are reportedly crashing like ‘ping-pong balls’ at crash scenes,” he said. “Once one vehicle crashes, it’s resulting in secondary crashes at the same location.”