FEBRUARY 19, 2015
GRAND HAVEN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD)
As of noon Thursday, deputies in Ottawa County had responded
to 52 crashes and slide-offs.
Most of the incidents happened along US-31 and south along
I-196 in Zeeland and Holland Townships.
Authorities shut down southbound US-31 between Lake Michigan
Drive and Pierce Street for about a half hour Thursday morning following a
chain reaction crash.
Traffic had slowed down for a wrecker that was blocking a
portion of the road in order to pull out a school bus that had slid in the
ditch.
A southbound semi-truck was stopped for the wrecker when it
was rear-ended by another vehicle. The driver of the car was taken to the
hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Traffic was at a standstill due to that crash when a second
crash involving five cars occurred due to white-out conditions. Two people were
taken to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
In all, there were a total of three separate crashes
involving nine vehicles. About ten cars slid off the road to avoid the crashes.
In a separate incident on 96th Avenue near Quincy Street in
Holland Township around 7 a.m., three people — two of them children — sustained
minor injuries and one serious injuries. A 35-year-old from Zeeland headed
north on 96th swerved after a southbound vehicle turned left into a driveway in
front of her. The northbound driver lost control of her car and struck a second
southbound vehicle, pinning its driver in.
The driver of that second southbound vehicle, a 54-year-old
from Hudsonville, had to be extricated by firefighters and was hospitalized
with serious injuries.
The driver of the northbound vehicle sustained minor
injuries and sought her own treatment. Her two passengers, ages 6 and 8, also
sustained minor injuries.
The driver who turned left into the driveway was not
involved in the collision and was therefore not hurt, but is believed to be
responsible for the crash. It was not immediately clear whether that driver, a
53-year-old from Allendale, was cited or with what.
