Road Conditions Contribute to Crashes

Monday, December 11, 2006 04:00 AM

Poor road conditions played a part in three collisions in the region last night.

Just after 8 p.m. an empty tanker truck heading southbound on Highway 97 lost control and ended up in the ditch about 30 km south of Prince George at the Stoner ovepass. Police say the driver was driving slow at the time and barely touched the brakes when the pup went into a slide crossing the road and hitting the ditch. No one hurt, and damage to the pup was minor.

Closer to town, at the BCR Hill, traffic had to be re-routed for about an hour after a southbound vehicle highway 97 went out of control as it tried to pass a semi. The vehicle hit the concrete barrier, crossed the highway and hit another concrete barrier, then collided head on with a car that was northbound. Both the male driver of the southbound vehicle, and female driver of the northbound car, were wearing seatbelts at the time, and their respective air bags deployed. Their vehicles were totalled, but they suffered brusing and minor cuts.

There was also a two vehicle crash at University Way. Police say a passing motorist had called in the accident, but it is assumed damage was minimal as both vheicles had cleared the scene by the time police arrived, again, icy roads are being blamed.

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Posted on Monday, December 11, 2006 04:00 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: RRrabbitt on December 11 2006 8:43 AM

"road conditons are partly to blame..." When does 99% stop being "partly" and becomes "fully" to blame ? I doubt that these reports will mean anything to the folks who are in charge of deploying the sand trucks, since it is always a good response to say that "vehicles are going too fast for road consitions". It seems that we are using sand by the tablespoonfull this year. Why is that ?? Road conditions should be monitored hourly and action should be taken immediately to keep them in the very best winter condition. It should come as no surprise by now that thaw is followed by freeze every time it happens. Have we got novices running the show... or is anybody running the show at all ??? AAARRRGGGHHHHH

Posted by: southfortguy on December 11 2006 10:13 AM

Sand? Its not sand its gravel - I spend lots of time on the highways for my job and my windshield and headlights take a beating...This year has been horrible for road maintenance both in town and on the highways. I have gotten to the point where I assume there will not be any plowing or sanding and drive accordingly. It seems no one is standing by to plow and just fit it into the shifts that are scheduled - just an observation. I do admit that I have seen many vehicles in the ditch so far - most have been SUV's. Drivers do need to take some responsibility - slow down or pull over if necessary - I do both if I have to - Its just not worth it otherwise. Drive defensively and get home safe - even if late!

Posted by: Chadermando on December 11 2006 10:49 AM

I drove past the tanker in the ditch last night. It had to be north bound and not south bound. It hit the ditch right on the corner before the BCR rail overpass at Red Rock. Almost hit the overpass in fact. The slow to 80km corner which can be tight in a rig if the road conditions are bad. To me it looked like he was trying to stay close to the ditch to avoid oncoming traffic on the corner and was sucked into the inside ditch, possibly by his pup trailer catching the ditch first, and then sucking the rest of the truck in.

The road conditions seemed fine at the time, and I think it was more of a tight corner, dark night, one of those trucker eak moments (tired maybe) where he over compensated probably because of speed for oncoming traffic on a sharp corner. The roads in town were bad, but once you got past Art Napps it was good all the way.

Posted by: acrider54 on December 11 2006 2:41 PM

Privatization (years ago, remember Vanderzalm?) and it's still the same today, low bidder gets the job. They have to cut corners to make a buck or break even for that matter.

When the Department of Highways looked after the roads there was always someone on the job monitoring the road conditions and directing sand trucks to problem areas making the highways safe to drive.

Contractors are not in buisness to make things safe but to make a profit. The contractor's employees do not have a steady shift but are on call instead of being on the job at all times.

Posted by: Harbinger on December 11 2006 2:49 PM

I.C.B.C. will pay for all this, and I will pay I.C.B.C. Simple, eh?

Posted by: diplomat on December 11 2006 6:29 PM

acrider54, I have to agree with you! Nowadays it seems that the only time the contractor comes out to sand/salt (after hours or on Sunday) is AFTER the pile-ups require the police, fire trucks and ambulances to attend the many accident scenes.

Does the police place a call to YRB to wake them up? I never see YRB people patrolling when it is predictable that a weather change will most likely cause freezing rain and black ice.

My windshield is decorated with many small holes which will sooner or later start to crack. The pebbles that are kicked up by the traffic are the size of marbles - way too big to qualify as "sand."

I will pay and so will ICBC, again.