Dangerous driving conditions in Orange County

WRAL's Shaun Gallagher drives along the Orange County back roads on Wednesday as snow continued to fall and make the highways dangerous.
Posted 2/19/2025, 9:45:24 PM Updated 2/20/2025, 1:58:08 PM

THAT'S ONLY TEMPORARY BECAUSE

THE SNOW AND SLEET CONTINUE TO

FALL. SO LOVELY. THANK YOU,

BRIAN. THE STORY OF THIS STORM

RIGHT NOW, MULTIPLE MULTI CAR

CRASHES. WE HEARD FROM THE

STATE HIGHWAY PATROL.

>> SERGEANT CHRIS KNOX SAYING

MORE THAN 600 CRASHES AT THIS

POINT THROUGH 04:00PM. AND OF

COURSE, THAT NUMBER IS ONLY

GROWING. WE HAVE BEEN REPORTING

THAT THERE HAVE BEEN MORE THAN

50 CALLS TO FIRST RESPONDERS

IN WAKE COUNTY. THAT'S JUST

WAKE COUNTY. SO WE'RE CHECKING

ON THE OTHER COUNTIES AS WELL.

WE HAVE SEAN GALLAGHER IN

ORANGE COUNTY RIGHT NOW KEEPING

AN EYE ON THE ROADS IN THE

SITUATION. THEY'RE SHOCKED.

>> YOU GUYS, WE ARE ON SOME

BACK ROADS RIGHT NOW FOR THE

FIRST TIME REALLY ALL DAY.

AND YOU CAN SEE THAT IT IS JUST

AS BAD AS THE HIGHWAYS, MAYBE

EVEN A LITTLE BIT WORSE THAT

WERE TRYING TO TAKE THESE BACK

ROADS TO BE ABLE TO GET TO SOME

OF THE TRASH IS BECAUSE

>> REALLY THE FREEWAYS AND

HIGHWAYS JUST AREN'T AN OPTION

RIGHT NOW AS WE HEAD ALL AROUND

HERE, WE WERE ON 85 EARLIER

HEADED EASTBOUND. I WANT YOU TO

TAKE A LOOK AT SOME VIDEO THAT

I TOOK FROM THE PASSENGER

VEHICLE OR PASSENGER SIDE OF

OUR VEHICLE. AS WE DROVE BY,

THERE WERE 4, 5, 6, CARS THAT

WERE OVER IN THE RIGHT LANE OF

TRAFFIC THAT WERE INVOLVED IN

SOME SORT OF FENDER-BENDER.

BUT ALL OF THEM JUST THE CHAIN

REACTION BECAUSE OF THE BURLEY,

BAD ROAD CONDITIONS RIGHT NOW.

AND THAT WAS REALLY BRINGING

TRAFFIC TO A STANDSTILL.

AT ONE POINT, WE WERE

COMPLETELY STOPPED ON. 85.

IT WAS A PARKING

LOT ACTUALLY GOT OUT AND WALKED

AROUND, TRYING TO TALK TO SOME

FOLKS. THEY WERE, YOU KNOW,

PRETTY EASY GOING ABOUT IT.

THEY WERE SAFE. THEY KNEW THAT

THEY WERE NOT IN A BAD SPOT.

THEY KNEW THAT THEY JUST ADDED,

OH, WAIT IT OUT. SO IT HAS BEEN

PRETTY ROUGH OUT HERE ALL DAY.