LAYTON, Utah — Auto body repair shops are busy after winter weather wreaked havoc on Utah’s highways.
Wednesday, Utah Highway Patrol responded to more than 200 crashes and slide offs as record breaking snow fell in a large portion of northern Utah.
Read: ‘It’s been chaos for everyone;’ UDOT talks snow storm, road conditions
“Today we got 4 tow-ins before we even opened,” said Cody Daniels, shop manager of Crazy Color Autobody. “Not every car that gets in an accident today needs to be towed away from the scene, so to get four right off the bat was a lot.”
Because this winter has been mostly dry, business at the locally owned shop had been slow – until today.
“Today was a crazy day,” Daniels said. “Just phones ringing off the hook.”
The shop traditionally sees a rise in business when winter weather hits. More damaged cars should trickle in during the coming days. Daniels says she does everything to make sure cars involved in accidents can be saved.
“There is one or so from this slew of the four I got today that may be a total, but we want to save them” Daniels said. “That’s what we are here for and I love taking care of people.”
Read: Wednesday snowfall breaks two longtime Salt Lake City records
Utah Highway Patrol says accidents increase when people fail to slow down or don’t take the rapidly changing weather conditions seriously.
“When roads are packed with snow and ice, we tend to have better drivers because people are really cautious, they’re scared,” said Sgt. Rick Shrader with UHP. “When the roads look a little damp, they think they can possibly push it. It seems like they do and that’s where we end up paying for it.”
Since this string of storms began Saturday, UHP responded to roughly 700 crashes.
