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Warmer temps melt ice plaguing Triangle drivers

Above freezing temperatures helped melt icy Triangle roads on Sunday, but not before slick conditions led to a vehicle pileup near Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Above freezing temperatures helped melt icy Triangle roads on Sunday, but not before slick conditions led to a vehicle pileup near Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

At least 13 vehicles spun off the road at Aviation Parkway and Interstate 540 Sunday morning, including some that went down an embankment. No injuries were reported.

Kerry Klein was on his way to the airport when his vehicle made a sound he did not want to hear.

"You just heard the brakes squeal and tires squeal," he said. "I said 'we have to get out of the car. There are going to be other cars heading down.' And sure enough, that's what happened, being hit two to three times."

Klein's car spun out, but while it didn't end up down the embankment, Altheia Henderson's vehicle was among those that did.

"Your life flashes before your eyes because you don't know if you're going to die," said Henderson, who was on her way to work. "I didn't know how to control my car. I was swerving a lot, and I basically slid down that hill."

East of Raleigh, several cars slid off the Knightdale Bypass onto the shoulder. Again, no serious injuries were reported.

In total, 23 vehicle wrecks were reported in Wake County Sunday morning, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said.

In Durham, a truck flipped on the ramp from U.S. 70 Business to Interstate 85. The driver's condition was not known.

Steve Abbott, spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Transportation, said his team was monitoring the roads and was handling problems as they developed.
"Not a lot of people have a mandatory reason to be out at 7 or 8 on a Sunday morning," Abbott said.
He advised against unnecessary travel before mid-morning.

The threat of black ice is reduced as school buses roll Monday morning. The combination of falling rain and temperatures in the mid-30s, while miserable, will wash away much of the remaining ice and snow Sunday.

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