BOISE -- Body shops in Boise were busy all day Monday giving estimates for hundreds of cars damaged over the weekend. Ada County dispatchers say this weekend alone police responded to 120 weather-related accidents.
As soon as local body shops opened Monday they were working the phones and helping people in the lobby. Drivers kept pulling in with cars damaged over the weekend.
"Some are kind of distraught, some are kind of angry, especially if somebody else hits them and it's not their fault," said John Weber of Westside Body Works.
Weber said his store did 40 estimates Monday. That's nearly triple the amount on a normal day.
Michael Groom brought his wife's SUV to Westside. He says she was out Sunday and couldn't stop at a light. She slid on ice and rear-ended a truck. Groom says there is a lesson to be learned.
"She was careful and it still happened," said Groom. "Even if you have a four wheel drive it means nothing when you're driving on ice."
Royal Body Works did a week's worth of business in one day. Owner Matt Thornton says 30 estimates at generally around $2,000 each, could mean $60,000 of work.
"It's pretty typical. I've been in the industry 16 years and I've seen every time it snows, it only takes about an inch of snow and the same thing happens," said Thornton.
Tow truck operators have the routine down, too. Ed Griffith of A-1 Towing has been towing since Saturday when the snow first hit.
"So you didn't really have a weekend off?” asked NewsChannel 7.
“No, no such thing. When the snow flies, the cars fly," Griffith responded.
The accidents they see are typically fender benders.
"Most of them are slide offs, sliding into curbs, sliding off into the ditch next to the road," Thornton said.
But the damage can be major.
"As long as people don't get hurt that's always the key, the key to everything we can do, cars can be fixed," Thornton said.
The body shops say they have not begun repairing cars from this weekend. Insurance paperwork needs to be completed, but once they get going Tuesday, they're expecting to pull long hours.
