Tulsa Police See Large Number Of Car Wrecks In Highway 75 Construction Zone

Tulsa police say dozens of serious car crashes, on a busy stretch of highway, have officers concerned.

Officers said that in the month of February, several people went to the hospital because of car accidents happening on Highway-75 just before the ODOT construction zone.

Tulsa police said the Highway 75 construction zone has become so dangerous, with so many accidents, they are at their wits end as to what to do.

They said dozens of people have wrecked and several have gone to the hospital. Tulsa police said they are watching for speeders on the stretch of Highway 75 just before the construction zone, south of I-44, and they are not giving out warnings - only tickets - because the area has become so dangerous. 

There are 40 ODOT signs on the highway, warning drivers going north about slowdowns and construction, but officers said drivers are not paying attention to the warnings. 

“We noticed it the day that it happened. I believe it was the 24th of January or 25th of January. As soon as that construction zone went up people started hitting each other in bad ways," said Tulsa Sergeant Will Dalsing.

Sgt. Dalsing said the problem area is along Highway 75 from 71st street to 61st street going north, where drivers are supposed to be merging into one lane before the construction at I-44. 

“It’s so bad at some parts of the day that an officer can leave his camera on and film the crashes that are happening," said Sgt. Dalsing.

Dalsing said during the month of February, police responded to 19 car accidents that sent several people to the hospital in just this one stretch of Highway 75. He said during the two weeks of ice and snow, the wrecks stopped, but picked up again last week. Dalsing said he's working with ODOT to find even more ways to warn drivers of the construction zone. 

“They put up some more signs. They put up some speed signs. They’ve asked a trooper to post up down there and we’re hoping that will help. Yesterday we had two more that I hadn’t even counted in this number. Two more crashes yesterday. One of them was a car that ran into the back of a tow truck and it could have taken his head off. It was a very serious crash," said Sgt. Dalsing.

He said during the month of February, officers issued 150 tickets to drivers in this area, and nearly all of them were for speeding. 

“I don’t know what else we can do other than close the highway. I mean is it going to get to the point that this is so dangerous that we have close Highway 75," said Sgt. Dalsing.

He said he believes the number of accidents will drop if drivers will just pay attention to the construction zone signs and watch what's happening to the cars in front of them.