It’s not every day a police force can report responding to two multiple-vehicle highway accidents in which there were only minor injuries.
That was the case for the Deer Lake RCMP after it responded to calls during this past weekend’s winter storm.
On Sunday, there was a three-vehicle pileup on the Trans-Canada Highway near Sandy Lake. No one was hurt in that incident.
On Monday, four vehicles collided with one another on the Trans-Canada Highway near the Deer Lake Power plant. There were minor injuries in that accident and the section of highway known as The Spillway was closed by the Department of Transportation and Works for a while after the accident happened.
The traffic was re-routed in through the town of Deer Lake and away from the portion of the highway that is prone to whiteout conditions from snow blowing off of adjacent Deer Lake.
Blowing snow and whiteout conditions were also listed as a factor in the Sandy Lake accident.
Police said the vehicles involved were all moving at relatively low spends because of the harsh driving conditions and that likely contributed to injuries not being more serious.
The RCMP responded to another accident in Deer lake Monday, but it was slippery road conditions that led to two vehicles colliding in the Gatehouse Road area.
Police said one man involved voluntarily went to the local medical clinic to have minor injuries checked out as a result of that mishap.
In Corner Brook, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary reported only a handful of weather-related incidents. Among them was a two-vehicle accident on O’Connell Drive that resulted in moderate damage but no injuries Monday and two instances where trucks needed some assistance after getting stuck.
