DENVER (KDVR) — Hundreds of cars were left stranded along Colorado roads and highways this weekend. So what should you do if you found yourself in this situation? Experts said that may have been the right thing to for this past weekend.
“Generally speaking, in weather events that are this severe, if you don’t think you can get rescued, leaving the vehicle is the safest thing you can do if you’ve got some sort of ride to a safe location,” said AAA Colorado Regional Public Affairs Director Skyler McKinley.
As the snow continued to fall around Colorado, drivers like Jezrah Sukama found themselves in trouble trying to make it back home.
“We thought, ‘we’re just going to stay here, we’re not going to make it.’ My husband said ‘you know the only thing we can do right now is use our survival skills, that’s really what we can do,” Sakuma said.
Sukama was one of the many drivers stranded along I-70 when the highway closed yesterday as conditions worsened.
While she made it home in her car Monday, other drivers weren’t as lucky. McKinley said you should not panic if your car is still out there.
“In snow conditions like these, the folks who are towing your vehicle are generally going to be accommodating on that timeline so get out there as soon as it’s safe but also stay in regular touch with law enforcement, if you are planning on going to retrieve your own vehicle call them first to make sure you have not been towed,” McKinley said.
You shouldn’t get in trouble for leaving your car but if you left it in a place where authorities needed to move it, you may have to pay to get it out.
“Sometimes it’ll get impounded, sometimes you will have to pay that fee. That’s why so many of us were saying ‘don’t drive.’ Not just to keep people safe but to prevent people from having that experience. Where you had to abandon your vehicle but you had to pay a fine, but you won’t get in any legal trouble for doing the safe thing during a snow event like this,” McKinley said.