With large portions of the United States now blanketed in snow, multi-car accidents are back in the news. It’s still early, but the new leader in the clubhouse for the most cars involved in one incident is 98. That “honor” goes to drivers in Indiana who recently stacked up their vehicles near Terre Haute.

The massive pileup occurred over the weekend on Interstate 70. Miraculously, Indiana State Police say no serious injuries were reported.

The pileup in Vigo County shut down traffic on I-70 for several hours. Firefighters, police, and other emergency personnel spent almost six hours cleaning up the mess.

It occurred just before 10 a.m. local time when the falling snow turned to ice on the road. With visibility already low, cars began skating across the slick surface, sliding off the road, and into each other.

Indiana State Police Public Information Officer Sgt. Matt Ames said in a Facebook Live message, “It’s our second snowfall of the year, a lot of people need to respond a little bit better.”

“People just need to drive smart when the snow starts falling,” he said, adding that the pileup was “unnecessary.”

The pileup in Indiana was historic in size

A spokesperson for the Riley Fire Department initially called the incident the “largest wreck” they had ever seen. The department’s fire chief later confirmed it.

Riley Fire Department Chief Matt McCullough told WTWO News on Monday that almost 100 vehicles were part of the incident on I-70. He called it “the biggest multi-vehicle accident we’ve had in Vigo County as long as anybody can remember.”

“There was one vehicle that had gone off the roadway, and all of a sudden, it was like an accordion effect,” Sgt. Ames said. “Everyone was trying to avoid each other, and ultimately, we ended up having forty-five vehicles that were involved in the accident. In the whole structure of the accident scene, there was ninety-eight vehicles.”

Ames added that the whole thing could possibly have been avoided with a little common sense.

“Traveling 70 miles an hour when the snow and ice is falling is just not the way you need to be driving out there,” he added. “You need to slow down to probably 35 or 40 miles an hour. If you’re traveling anything below that, you probably want to activate your emergency lights and make sure your headlights are going on. So other motorists can see you out there.”