Car Slides Off Highway 34 During Winter Storm
LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- A car slid off Highway 34 near Estes Park on Wednesday afternoon, just shortly after the snow started falling during a Winter Storm Warning that encompassed much of Colorado's Front Range. CBS4 meteorologists declared Wednesday a First Alert Weather Day as 4-12 inches of snow was predicted in some areas.
On Highway 34, a car slid nearly off the road. The driver believed he may have been driving too fast for the weather conditions. A CBS4 crew pulled up just after it happened and CBS4 Photojournalist Dale Atchison called 911.
The driver was worried about getting out of the vehicle and when fire crews arrived, they advised him to say inside.
Crews attached the vehicle that was nearly off the road to three trucks, two of them fire engines, and pulled the vehicle to safety. Only then was the driver advised to exit the vehicle.
"Especially on first snowfall, when the roads are warm and then we have the cold snow, it gets slushie, so it gets real slippery, so drivers have to go really slow. Four-wheel drive doesn't help with breaking, slow speeds help with breaking," said Paul Capo with the Estes Valley Fire Protection District.
Fire crews said this is the tenth time they've been called to a vehicle off the highway in that same area, although it was not clear the length of time in which that occurred.