Icy fog and speed leads to crashes and highway traffic jam outside Richland

Freezing fog and high speeds contributed to a Friday morning wreck on Interstate 82 that backed up traffic for an hour.

A woman was driving too fast in the dense fog around 7:10 a.m. and lost control of her car between Benton City and Richland, Trooper Chris Thorson said. She went off the right side of the road, and swerved back on and hit a pickup truck.

After getting out of the car to check on the damage another pickup came through the fog and slammed into the car, pushing it into the median.

While it was initially believed that someone was hurt in the crash, no one was injured.

It took at an hour to clear the wreck from the road leading to mile-long backup.

This is some of the first freezing fog the Tri-Cities has seen this winter.

Thorson advised people to remember that freezing temperatures combined with fog is likely going to leave ice on the roadway. He advised people to turn on their headlights and driver slower than normal in those conditions.

This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 10:02 AM.