An early start to winter has caused some misery for motorists in the Corner Brook area.
Members of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary had to respond to five accidents over a 48-hour time period as motorists had to deal with slush and icy sections.
On Friday morning, police responded to a pedestrian-vehicle collision around 6 a.m. on the Wal-Mart parking lot. Neither the pedestrian or the male driver of the vehicle were injured in the collision and the incident is still under investigation.
At the time of the mishap, according to police, road conditions were poor at the time with icy and snow-covered sections and there was also a higher than normal volume of pedestrian traffic for that early in the morning due to Black Friday sales.
In the hours before, police had to deal with four minor mishaps in the Corner Brook area but luckily there were no major injuries and most of the vehicles involved in these incidents received moderate damage to their vehicles.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had a relatively quiet 24-hour period with no accidents reported on the highway in the Corner Brook, Deer Lake and Rocky Harbour areas of the west coast.
While there weren’t any accidents, Sgt. Terry Foster of RCMP Traffic Services West said police were busy keeping motorists focused on safety and offered a few observations to help motorists adjust their driving habits with an early winter bringing a heavy blanket of snow to the west coast.
— There are drivers who don’t have winter tires on their vehicle. While it’s not a violation to drive without them it’s certainly a good practice to have them on.
— Learn to drive at a greater distance apart from other vehicles to create a bigger safety pocket with slushy, slippery roads always a concern while driving the highways.
— Police have issued tickets to people who haven’t had their vehicles properly cleaned off before leaving for their destination. It is recommended that motorists take the time to ensure they have good visibility in front, rear and both sides of the vehicle.
— A number of speed tickets have been handed out over the past few days despite poor driving conditions. Police urge motorists to slow down and remind them that if somebody is driving too fast for conditions of the road, whether it’s snow or rain, they can be ticketed.
