Icy patch causes spin-outs on Highway 395 north of Minden

Northbound Highway 395 was reduced to one lane for most of the Friday morning commute after water over the roadway between Airport Road and Johnson Lane froze, causing motorists to spin out.

A school bus with around a dozen students on board was among the vehicles to have issues that started with a pickup at around 5:51 a.m.

Superintendent Keith Lewis confirmed there was a three-vehicle collision involving a bus with students on board.
“Fortunately, there were no injuries to any of the parties involved,” he said.

In an effort to slow down for traffic, another vehicle braked and side-swiped the bus.

“There is minimal to no damage to the bus,” he said. “Since the bus was held at the accident scene, we were able to transfer students to another bus and they made it to school.”

There was no report of injuries, though northbound traffic was reduced to a crawl as vehicles picked their way along the icy road.

Temperatures at the intersection with Airport Road dropped from 34 degrees at 3:26 a.m. to 20 by 7:03 a.m. as skies cleared.

Deputies were also calling for sand around 9:45 a.m. at the intersection of South Benjamin and Jack drives in the main route between Kingsbury Grade and the Heavenly Boulder Parking lot, saying vehicles were backing up.

“Road temperatures across the region are beginning to plummet, with most roads already subfreezing,” forecasters said early Friday morning. “Wet roads from melting snow and precipitation over the past 48 hours will freeze over roads this morning. Leave early and give yourself plenty of time if you are commuting this morning.”