Snow Causes 16 Crashes, Closing Freeway at Rush Hour

The Antelope Valley Freeway was briefly closed Wednesday because snow and ice caused 16 accidents, including a 10-car pileup, in less than an hour during the morning commuting period, the California Highway Patrol reported.

No serious injuries were reported, but tangled cars littered a five-mile stretch of the freeway, which was closed from Angeles Forest Highway north to Palmdale Boulevard, CHP Officer Miguel Siordia said.

“That’s the area where the snow hit hardest,” said Siordia, who noted that ice conditions were listed as a cause in all the accidents.

“We started getting snow at 5:15 a.m. People started crashing by 6,” Siordia said. “They were driving too fast for the conditions.”

By 6:30 a.m. the CHP had reports of 16 separate accidents, four of which included injuries ranging from minor to moderate, Siordia said.

Two women suffered moderate injuries when the car in which they were riding spun out on ice on a bridge near the Pearblossom Highway exit and struck a van, the CHP said.

They were transported to Palmdale General Hospital and were the only accident victims hospitalized, officials said.

Ten cars collided in a chain-reaction pileup in the southbound lanes near Angeles Forest Highway, Siordia said.

The CHP shut down the four-lane freeway at 7 a.m., Siordia said.

“The reason we had the closure was the number of accidents,” Siordia said. “The accidents were blocking the lanes. People were driving into the center divider to get around and were getting stuck. We had to close it down until the tow trucks could go in and get everybody out.”

CHP officers began escorting commuters along the freeway at 8 a.m., Siordia said.

At 9 a.m., after the ice and snow had melted, all lanes were reopened.

Siordia said the accidents and closure made a miserable and long commute for many residents heading south to Los Angeles during the high point of the morning rush hour.

“In the Antelope Valley, our rush hour is an hour earlier than in Los Angeles,” he said. “It was bumper to bumper when these accidents started happening.”

Siordia said the Antelope Valley Freeway is usually closed only once or twice a year because of weather conditions.