Salmon Arm RCMP warn of bad driving conditions | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Salmon Arm RCMP warn of bad driving conditions

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SALMON ARM - Several close calls on slippery roads have prompted a warning for the Shuswap area.

Since Jan. 4, Salmon Arm RCMP has responded to seven crashes, Sgt. Scott West says in a media release.

The rash of collisions includes a semi truck that flipped over on the Trans-Canada Highway, another semi jackknifed into the ditch, blocking highway traffic, and a woman’s arm getting pinned under her SUV after the vehicle rolled onto its roof.

Fortunately, most people involved in the crashes did not suffer any serious injuries, and the woman whose arm got pinned beneath the vehicle was air-lifted to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, West says.

In at least some of the crashes, drivers said they were doing the limit, or just under, which West says isn't slow enough.

“The speed limit is for perfect conditions. We definitely do not have even good conditions despite the best efforts of snow removal crews,” West says.

He’s urging drivers to slow down and leave extra room between vehicles, and not to count too much on four wheel drive. He notes four wheel drive does provide better control during acceleration, but says stopping and turning is still compromised in the conditions we are seeing right now.

“With the freezing rain that we are seeing on the roads as you leave the lake level our driving conditions will continue to deteriorate until the precipitation ends,” West says.

Drive B.C. was reporting slushy and slippery sections through the Shuswap and North Okanagan regions Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 6. Compact snow, slushy sections and slippery sections are also being reported on other Interior highways, along with some areas of fog.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infonews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

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