| Highway havoc created by winter storm |
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| Local Content - Local News |
| Written by publisher |
| Thursday, 07 January 2010 16:04 |
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By Allison Werbowetsky High winds created whiteout conditions along the Trans-Canada Highway on Jan. 1 resulting in several accidents. Eight requests for assistance and four collisions came through to Maple Creek RCMP dispatch that day. The only injuries however, occurred from a collision involving a truck and a tractor trailer in the evening. The 20-kilometre stretch of highway from Anderson Road to the top of Hatton Hills had the worst road conditions. Visibility was almost nil, especially when the sun went down, and 80-kilometre wind gusts blew thick walls of snow 20 feet into the air. “The wind was incredible. It was difficult to stand and walk on the highway,” Sgt. Lyall Frederiksen said. That stretch of highway “doesn’t look significant, but when you’re driving there’s just enough slope on the road to cause people to lose control and head into the ditch,” he added. Traffic moved slowly and most tractor trailers pulled over to the side to wait out the storm. The reaction time of those trucks is fairly slow, Frederiksen said, so it is always safer for them to pull over and wait. He estimated approximately 50 vehicles were parked along the side of the road at all times that day. However, the RCMP did encourage most drivers to keep moving. The storm was nearly non-existent past that 20-km stretch, and the highway was getting clogged up with vehicles around an accident site involving a vehicle rear-ended by a tractor trailer. “We tried to keep things moving as much as possible, just as slowly as it was, to try to avoid those rear-end collisions,” Frederiksen said. At that point, police advised drivers of vehicles involved in collisions to keep going if they were able to, and worry about the details of the accident later. “We were no longer trying to investigate accidents. We were trying to make sure everybody was safe, and if their vehicles were drivable, to keep them moving,” he added. Most of the collisions were rear-enders or vehicles side-swiped at intersections with very low visibility. Fortunately, no major injuries or fatalities were reported. Frederiksen advises anyone considering traveling during the winter months to pay particular attention to the weather and road condition reports beforehand. Be prepared to pull over and wait out a storm by packing a cold-weather bag with warm clothing and blankets just in case. Fill up the gas tank, always have a cell phone and keep a friend or family member in the know. Never use cruise control during a storm. |
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