Police Commend Safe Drivers After First Big Snow

There were three car accidents in Hinsdale during the first big snow of 2012, but only two were snow-related according to Deputy Chief Mark Wodka of the .  

"It is a pleasant indication that people were paying attention and heeding the caution messages on the radio," Wodka said. 

A 3:14 p.m. crash at Madison and 59th streets did heavy damage to a telephone utility box, Wodka said, which could have caused telephone outages for residents in the southwest portion of the village. 

The department notified residents in the area that there may be an outage and called AT&T, who Wodka said did not respond immediately because they did not have a crew available. The deputy chief said the department is not sure of the status and it's possible no outages occurred. The police have not heard from any residents complaining their phones are down.

Another crash took place at 11:18 a.m. at 5th and Lincoln streets. 

Both accidents were considered minor by the department. 

Chief Ted Jenkins of the Clarendon Hills Police Department said there were two minor accidents with no injuries in Clarendon Hills. 

All in all, Jenkins said, the snowstorm itself was pretty minor.

"If this storm happened at the end of last winter, we would've laughed at it," Jenkins said.