Truck Driver Shares Experience Driving Into Massive I-35W Pileup: 'All Of A Sudden There's Ice And Everybody's Wrecking'
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - A truck driver who was carrying a load of military equipment described his experience as he drove into the deadly pileup on Interstate-35W in Fort Worth Thursday morning.
Michael Howard told CBS 11 News he was on his way to Fort Hood and that the roadway had been clear since Denton. He said he saw crashes ahead of him on the road and then felt his trailer start to move.
"You don't see the ice, 'til you feel it... You can't stop, so I steered off into that wall... then the people behind me just bam, bam, bam, bam," Howard said.
He said he drove into a wall to lessen the impact. He added that everyone who crashed around him walked away.
"All of a sudden there's ice, and everybody's wrecking," he said.
Howard said he was upset about the conditions of the road and questioned why they hadn't been pretreated.
North Tarrant Express, which covers the area of the crash, told CBS 11 News they pretreated the road on Tuesday.
At least six people were killed and dozens more were injured in the massive crash that happened at around 6:30 a.m. due to weather, police said. Freezing rain and sleet fell overnight, which left roadways across North Texas wet and slick.
As many as 133 vehicles were involved in the pileup, according to police, and many drivers were trapped within their vehicles.
