A Wyoming state trooper says that the actions of a motorist caused major problems for snow plow drivers and truckers and triggered long delays near Laramie on Sunday.
A Wyoming trooper called into the “Wake Up Wyoming” radio program on KGAB to vent about how a thoughtless driver caused major delays during a serious winter weather storm that crippled much of the state over the weekend.
The trooper explained how the decisions of a Californian in a Mini Cooper ended up land locking plow trucks, delaying the reopening of I-80, and costing truckers thousands in lost revenue while they sat during the four hour closure.
The trooper described the situation during the Monday morning call:
“I was working the storm yesterday here in the Laramie area particularly around the interstate and we had a guy from California that had a little Mini Cooper and he went out on the interstate and he got stuck between exit ramps, between the 313 and the 316. And he caused — because he went out there — he caused a number of semi trucks who were also doing this same thing as what he said he was doing, which was simply going out there to see if the road had opened yet … so what happened is a plow truck was also stuck in the midst, so that landlocked that vehicle. We had to eventually take wreckers down there and go the wrong way on the interstate just to try and get these people out. And at the same time, because there’s only way to get out of Laramie to Cheyenne going east, and that’s on I-80. It landlocked the rest of our plow trucks that were trying to go between the sand piles in Laramie and go on up the summit and do their thing. So in essence, what happened because of this one individual was we literally landlocked our entire fleet of pile trucks … that were trying to keep up with the road because of this one individual’s choice. This cost thousands of dollars to the semi trucks and even that owner to get towed out.“
The trooper said it took about four hours “just to get this problem freed up that the guy in the Mini Cooper created.”
The trooper asked drivers to stay at home in bad weather conditions so that plow drivers can do their jobs.
Listen to the trooper’s conversation in the video below.
WYDOT said on Tuesday afternoon that crews are still working to clear I-80 between Laramie and Cheyenne.