One of Nashville's busiest towing and wrecker services has begun to brace for a busy Friday of snow and ice.
Lose it while behind the wheel and you're in big trouble. Not only have drivers been preparing for the oncoming snow and ice, but Nashville's busiest towing lots has been as well.
They've already been hard at work. In fact, after Wednesday's slick weather you'll find lots of twisted metal at the A.B. Collier's Wrecking yard.
"We tow for the Metro police department in South Nashville," said manager Robert Dunn.
Their salvage yard is where cars go die. Insurance adjuster Gary Coombs gives them the last rites.
"I come out and do damage assessment on vehicles in a wreck that may have ended up in a ditch and yes I expect to be very busy," said Coombs.
Dunn agreed and said snow storms keep his lot busy. "There were a few bad wrecks Wednesday," said Dunn pointing to one typical case.
"This the result of a one car accident. They hit the ice and lost control so you can see what they did. They hit and then slid down the retaining wall," said Dunn.
He said it's the same story over and over - the driver lost traction, but in many cases it wasn't just about the ice.
"Typically when that happens you also have those bald tires," said Dunn.
The more serious wrecks usually involve two or more cars. Dunn walked to a wrecked Sentra which went over a retaining wall on 440 Wednesday and slammed into another vehicle.
"When this car got hit you can see what it did to the frame. It actually popped the windshield clean out," said Dunn.
It was a good thing the seatbelts and airbags kept the driver and passengers in their seats. Dunn said overall Wednesday wasn't bad.
He counted only a half-dozen or so wrecks from the ice -- which left plenty of space still available in his lot.
He figures he would need it after Friday's expected round of snow and ice. "We'll have seven drivers and seven trucks ready in the morning," said Dunn.
Police across middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky reported literally hundreds of wrecks -- some minor and some serious -- on Wednesday.
