'Slick' roads on North Jordan cause pileup; several cars damaged

When senior Saliq Kahn personalized his car's license plate to read "SLICK6," he likely had no idea it would be so prophetic.\nAs his 2003 Mazda slid Tuesday morning on the icy roads of Bloomington, the irony was all too real.\nThe accident occurred at about 8:40 a.m. Tuesday on the Jordan Avenue extension, near Balfour Court, according to the IU Police Department. Kahn was heading north on Jordan Avenue when he said he tried to brake, Capt. Jerry Minger said, reading from a police report. \nRather than coming to a stop, Khan's vehicle slid into a 2001 blue Volkswagen Beetle that was parked on the right side of the road, Minger said.\nThe damage didn't stop there.\nThe Volkswagen was pushed under a maroon 1993 Pontiac Grand Am that was parked in front of it, effectively leaving the Grand Am at a 45-degree angle. Not only did this leave the Grand Am on top of the Volkswagon, but it caused damage to the rear of a 2000 silver Pontiac Sunbird parked in front of the Grand Am, Minger said.\nKahn said in an e-mail he was driving to his residence, the Delta Tau Delta house, when the road curved slightly and he lost control of his car because of the ice.\n"My car is currently not driveable, and the total damages I presume are around $10,000," he said. "Things happen, what can you do? What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."\nLeigh Ann Pittman, a sophomore living at Phi Mu and the owner of the Grand Am, was awoken this morning by one of her sorority sisters, who informed her of her car's new position.\n"My phone started ringing and I was kind of grumpy. ... It was 8 in the morning, and it was a number I didn't recognize, so I ignored it," Pittman said. "Then I got a voice mail and a text message that said you need to get your car ASAP. I looked out the window and saw my car on top of my friend Angie Citro's blue beetle."\nPittman said her Grand Am escaped unscathed, though it did cause damage.\nThe Volkswagon and Sunbird were so damaged they had to be towed. Minger said the impact caused the back wheel of the Pontiac to go through the front windshield of the Volkswagon.\nKahn told police he was traveling at 10 mph, but Minger -- who was skeptical of the estimated speed -- said he was cited for going too fast for avoiding a collision.\n"It really doesn't matter if you're speeding," Minger said of the citation. "It's whether or not you were going too fast to avoid an accident." \nThis ruling applies despite the presence of icy conditions on the road.\n"If there's ice on the road, you need to slow down," Minger said. "If you're driving too fast and cause a four-car collision, it's considered that you were going too fast"