One day after 53 cars were involved in a fatal crash in Orange County, victims of the accident are picking up the pieces.
The crash started after two tractor-trailers got involved into a crash on the I-40/I-85 merger in Hillsborough. Another tractor-trailer then crashed into backed up cars, killing one woman and clogging the interstate for several hours.
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Dusty Meador was driving on I-40 right behind the first couple of cars to crash. He slammed on his brakes but slid into a car in front of him.
He told WRAL News he had to flee the vehicle quickly to escape the domino effect of crashes behind him.
“We peeled out because we didn’t want to stay in the car and have people run into us. We got out of the car and ran up the embankment, and we started hearing and seeing cars clashing," said Meador. "A truck came into the side of the road and nearly crashed where we were at, so we just climbed up a little higher.”
Like several other drivers involved in the crash, before Meador can go through his insurance company, he needs to learn the fate of his car. The last time he saw it, it was being towed away.
"They kind of just took the truck and said it would be at the yard," said Meador. "We are just kind of waiting on when we can get access to our truck again.”
Lee's 24-Hour Towing was the company that responded to the crash. Robby Gardner, a driver for the company, says this crash was one of the worst he's seen.
“There have been very few [accidents] that have been as severe as that was last night," said Gardner.
The ramp connecting I-40 with I-85 was closed for hours due to State Highway Patrol investigating the fatality. Gardner tells WRAL it was a long clean-up process.
"We had to start moving vehicles before we could even get back to where that major incident was," said Gardner. "We probably had at least, I’d say, three or four semis in front of that that we had to clear out just so we could get back up to where that fatality was at.”
After experiencing the crash, both Gardner and Meador urge other drivers to take it easy driving in snowy conditions and to get home safely.