Columbus police release details about crashes on Interstate 185 that involved 19 vehicles

Columbus police said following too close and bad weather conditions caused the series of crashes that occurred early Monday on Interstate 185.

Authorities said there were two wrecks around 6:42 a.m. in the northbound lanes on Interstate 185 near Williams Road that led to four additional crashes in the southbound lanes. There were a total of six different collisions with 19 vehicles involved, according to police.

Police Sgt. Fred Carnes said eight people were injured and four of them were transported to Columbus Midtown Medical Center to be treated for non-life threatening injuries.

"Basically people were going too fast to get to where they were going," Carnes said. "People were slowing down, but they couldn't slow down in time. They hit and caused a chain-reaction. "

Carnes reminded the public to be more cautious when driving in bad weather.

"When it's raining or foggy like it was this morning, people need to slow down and give themselves ample time to get there," he said.

Officials are still investigating the crashes. The wreck scenes have been cleared and traffic is flowing freely.

Sarah Robinson: 706-571-8622, @sarahR_92

This story was originally published December 18, 2017 at 1:47 PM with the headline "Columbus police release details about crashes on Interstate 185 that involved 19 vehicles."