Crime & Safety
Multi-Car Accident Shuts Down Southfield Saturday (PHOTOS)
The Southfield Freeway near Oakwood Boulevard was shut down for four hours while emergency crews cleared the area.
Update, Sunday: According to Channel 4, nine people were injured in the accident on Saturday on the Southfield Freeway.
None of the injuries were life threatening.
Update, 5 p.m.: Both directions of the Southfield Freeway are now open, according to MDOT.
Find out what's happening in Dearbornwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Update, 4 p.m.: Emergency crews are still working on the scene of an accident involving more than a dozen cars on the Southfield Freeway. Northbound Southfield remains closed near Oakwood Boulevard.
Channel 7 has a full list of freeway closures on their website, including multiple incidents on I-75.
Find out what's happening in Dearbornwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Dearborn residents have reported seeing salt trucks out Saturday afternoon in an attempt to make roads more drivable.
According to MDOT, a two-car accident blocking all lanes of southbound Southfield was cleared as of 3:30 p.m.
There is no estimate as to when northbound Southfield is expected to reopen.
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Snowy conditions caused multiple accidents in the Dearborn area Saturday, including a crash involving as many as 13 cars on the Southfield Freeway.
Several other accidents were reported on I-94. MDOT also reported a two car accident on Southfield near Michigan Avenue at around 1:50 p.m.
A semi truck jackknifed at Oakwood Boulevard on Southfield around 12:30 p.m., causing other cars driving on the snow-covered freeway to collide with it. The accident was still blocking all northbound lanes of Southfield as of 2 p.m.
According to a report on wxyz.com, multiple local freeways closed after snow squalls caused accidents starting around noon. Closures included I-75 southbound at West Road; US-23 northbound at Plank Road in Washtenaw County; and I-75 southbound at Lodge in Detroit.
The National Weather Service issued a Hazardous Weather Statement early Saturday morning for all of southeast Michigan, including Dearborn. The forecast had predicted a cold front coming in and called for scattered snow showers with accumulations between 1 and 3 inches.
Dearborn police released a message at 1:30 p.m. urging drivers to stay off of the roads.
“The Dearborn Police would like to advise residents of poor driving conditions due to recent snowfall,” the message, released via Nixle, read. “The Dearborn Police would like to ask residents to remain off the roads at this time while we take care of multiple accidents.”
Readers described the conditions on the Dearborn-area roads on the Dearborn Patch Facebook page.
"Just went for a slide on Southfield. It's a mess," posted Emily Panchenko.
"It's a mess all around the area--even on my local street," said Rick Zienert.
Additional reporting provided by Ian Kushnir and Kristin Bull.
