Poor weather conditions and bad driving are being blamed for the massive pileup that forced Sunday's lengthy shut down of Highway 41/45 near Lannon Road in Germantown, Wisconsin.

Dozens of vehicles — possibly as many as 90 — were involved in the chain-reaction crash that claimed the life of at least one driver.

"If people watch Nascar, and they watch the Daytona 500 or Talledega, where they wait for what's called the Big Crash, where all the cars crash because they're all so close together, that's what this was like — only there was nobody there to stop it with a yellow flag and slow all the other cars down," Germantown Police Officer Tim Miller told WISN12. "So you had that big, huge crash, and then cars just continued to just pile into it and taking evasive action. It didn't stop. You know, it was five, 10 minutes this went on for. It just kept going and going and going. I mean that's what was helpless about it."


Footage of the pileup was released yesterday by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (skip to 3:15 if you're in a hurry).

Police took the opportunity to remind residents to slow down when the roads are slippery, and to avoid leaving the vehicle if you do end up crashing.