Repair shops brace for surge of damaged cars after 3rd winter storm of 2025

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- As hazardous driving conditions remain an issue around the Triangle, local auto body repair shops are preparing for a surge in calls after the North Carolina State Highway Patrol (NCSHP) reported over 1,000 crashes in the winter storm on Wednesday.

Highway Patrol said they received 1,196 collision calls in the storm before a second round of snow moved through the area on Thursday morning. ABC11 crews saw dozens of damaged vehicles abandoned on the side of the road both Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

"Whenever stuff like this happens, there's always a I hate to say a large influx of volume," said Rick Allison, Regional Manager for Relentless Collision.

Relentless has locations in Raleigh, Durham, Cary and Morrisville and Allison says it's been a busy winter already -- but they're trying to keep both potential customers and their employees home until the roads improve.

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"We've seen a decent influx in work. We're trying to keep people at home, obviously, and we're trying to offer the service of doing it remotely or them sending photos in. But it has caused a little bit more," he said.

Allison said the most common issues they see after a winter storm are side impact and suspension damage due to cars sliding off the road or into another object. He said his own commute Thursday morning was proof of how easy it is to have an issue, even after a storm.

"When I hit apex heading into Durham, the roads were extremely terrible. So all the roads that I took were all ice. So I went from doing the speed limit to doing about 30 under. And even then it was it was pretty difficult to stop," Allison said.

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