BELOIT, Wis. — On Jan. 27, Juelane Porter was on her way to Tennessee when she found herself in a life-or-death situation.
“Instantly, it was just a wall of vehicles that were stopped. I mean, it just looked like hundreds to me,” said Porter.
She said she started swerving, attempting to dodge other vehicles that were stranded in the pileup.
“The next thing I know, my car impacted with a semitrailer that was sitting still,” said Porter.
Porter was one of more than 85 drivers who found themselves in a pileup on I-39/90 last Friday, due winter weather.
Upon impact with the semi-trailer truck, Porter said her face was injured and she found herself in shock.
“I don’t know if the airbag hit the side of my face or if the actual door glass did,” said Porter.
This was not the end of what seemed like a horrible nightmare for Porter.
“It was bang, bang, bang, bang, bang and all of these other vehicles are slamming into me on the passenger side and it just kept going,“ said Porter.
Eventually, things calmed down and a paramedic helped Porter crawl out of her passenger window.
“He saw that I was bleeding and hurt and I had to climb over the center counsel to get out,” said Porter. “I went and sat in his truck until the ambulances came.”
Porter said her car is totaled, and she is one of many drivers who is waiting for their insurance to contact her about her car.
She lives in Tennessee but often travels back to the Janesville, Wis.-area to care for sick family members. She said she worries that without her car, she will have to give up one of the two.
”I have been going back and forth because of illnesses, just trying to be with family, but it is what it is,” said Porter.
While Porter’s car is totaled, many other cars were salvageable.
Jeff Jacobson, owner of Brothers Autobody and Repair, said getting a car fixed could take some time.
“Right now we’re about a month, a month and a half out. We’re usually about a month out,” said Jacobson.
Jacobson said depending on the damage and the parts that need to be ordered, it could take even longer.
“It varies. One car will be waiting on a $2 part; one will be waiting on several parts,” said Jacobson. “We have been having to shop around, doing a lot of Google searching for part numbers.”
He said these are issues that are impacting auto repair shops across Wisconsin and it is important drivers take vehicles to reliable shops.