SAFEwalk escort services closed Thursday night after extreme weather created dangerous conditions for walking and driving.

Those who called the hotline were turned away with a message stating the service would be closed for the night due to an ice storm.

“Unfortunately we’re in the middle of an ice storm that is really out of our control,” said Dispatcher Tim Murray of Union Cab, which operates the SAFEride cab service. “…Under the weather conditions we have to think of safety first. That means that we can’t have the vehicles out there bumper car-ing into other parked cars or other moving vehicles.”

Murray said he made the decision to halt cab services after hearing of accidents all over Madison, including a seven-car pileup on John Nolen Drive.

He said a stopped cab slid sideways into another car before he stopped service.

“In an ice storm you can be sitting on flat level ground and still the vehicle will slide sideways. It’s just uncontrollable. It’s just safer and prudent to have people stay indoors where they’re safe until we can safely travel the streets. I wish we could service everybody, but unfortunately the ice storm jeopardizes everybody,” Murray said.

Murray said he contacted the city when they decided it was too dangerous to drive, and as of 11 p.m., plow drivers had yet to arrive to begin to disperse salt to counteract the ice.

This delay creates a “snowball effect” that keeps the city from getting back to full operation for at least a few hours, according to Murray.

He said this is one of four or five times in 25 years Union Cab has been forced to shut down.

Each of the occasions has been the result of an ice storm.

Murray said he was hoping the service was back up by bar time, but there were no guarantees.

“I just don’t want people to get hurt in our vehicles or outside of our vehicles,” Murray said.

“Until we can somehow get a fleet of snowmobiles or something that can run really well on ice, we’re in the same situation as everyone else,” Murray continued. “You’ve got to have four wheels touching pavement to get anywhere.”

Several officials from SAFEwalk as well as the University of Wisconsin were not available early Wednesday morning for more information.