Fact check: Old image wrongly presented as recent Kentucky traffic crash
The claim: Image shows vehicles piled up in Jan. 6 Mount Sterling, Kentucky, snowstorm
A major snowstorm hit most of the East Coast and parts of the South during the first week of January, causing severe pileups on highways and sparking false claims on social media.
A Jan. 6 Facebook image shared more than 5,000 timesin less than a week shows dozens of crashed cars and trucks on a snow-covered highway. The caption says the pileup occurred in Mount Sterling, Kentucky.
Other versions of the post also accrued hundreds of shares within a week.
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But the image is not from Kentucky. It's actually from a 2013 pileup in Pennsylvania.
Paste BN reached out to the Facebook user who posted the image for comment.
Image taken in 2013
The Associated Press took the photo now being shared online in 2013, when parts of at least two highways were shut down due to a snowstorm.
The caption of the image says the pileup was at mile marker 286 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Reading on Dec. 26, 2013.
The 35-vehicle pileup caused a 4-mile backup. There were no deaths reported.
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Although the image doesn't show a current pileup in Kentucky, several roads in the state experienced hours-long backups and accidents on Jan. 6.
A 50- to 75-vehicle pileup near Mount Sterling, the same location the Facebook image claims to show, caused Interstate 64 to be shut down for several hours, CBS local-affiliate WKYT reported.
Former Kentucky State Auditor Adam Edelen tweeted he was stuck in the "snowmaggedon" pile-up for more than nine hours before roads were clear enough to start moving again.
Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that an image shows vehicles piled up in a Jan. 6 Mount Sterling, Kentucky, snowstorm. The image was taken by the Associated Press in 2013 and depicts a 35-car pileup in Pennsylvania.
Our fact-check sources:
- Paste BN, Jan. 6, Record-breaking snow slams Buffalo; East Coast braces for first bomb cyclone of 2022; Virginia faces storm of questions
- AP Images, Dec. 26, 2013, Highways shutdown
- Paste BN, Dec. 26, 2013, Highways reopen in eastern Pa. after pileups
- Louisville Courier Journal, Jan. 7, What to know about Kentucky's snowstorm, road conditions and Kentucky school closings
- WKYT, Jan. 6, Major roads back open after being shut down due to icy conditions, crashes
- Ballotpedia, accessed Jan. 12, Adam Edelen
- Adam Edelen, Jan. 6, tweet
- Adam Edelen, Jan. 7, tweet
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