As frigid temperatures took hold across Nebraska Wednesday, troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) spent the day assisting motorists who had become stranded.

In total, troopers performed 165 motorist assists from Wednesday morning through Thursday morning. Most of those instances occurred in northern and eastern Nebraska, where temperatures were below zero for much of the day Wednesday and overnight hours into Thursday.

“We’d like to thank these motorists for doing what we and other public safety partners advised with this cold weather. These stranded motorists stayed in their vehicles until help arrived,” said Major Brenda Konfrst – Commander of Eastern Field Services. “Leaving your vehicle in these cold temperatures can be extremely dangerous.”

Troopers responded to slide-offs, crashes, vehicle malfunctions, and helped change a few tires. Troopers also removed five drunk drivers from the road and assisted outside agencies with numerous incidents.

“Public safety is a team effort,” said Colonel John Bolduc, Superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol. “We’d like to salute our fellow first responders, road crews, and tow truck operators in Nebraska and other areas around the Midwest who are dealing with extremely cold temperatures.”

Temperatures are expected to increase over the next several days.