Morning road conditions lead to TCH collision frenzy

By Mo Cranker on February 10, 2018.

mcranker@medicinehatnews.com @MHNmocranker

No injuries were reported after three separate collisions on the Trans-Canada Highway Friday morning, but the Medicine Hat Police Service is urging Hatters to slow down and drive according to road conditions.

The MHPS first responded to a three-vehicle collision at 6:48 a.m. Friday near the dip in the highway at Kin Coulee, and then saw two more crashes take part at the same area within an hour.

“Basically, it’s a few different events,” traffic unit Const. David Smith said. “In westbound traffic, one vehicle lost control and slipped on the ice. The second vehicle tried to avoid that person and also started sliding on the ice. The third vehicle collided with the second one, causing a three-vehicle collision in the westbound lanes.

“A fourth and fifth vehicle also going westbound, in an attempt to avoid that collision, ended up losing control and jumping through the median and colliding with a vehicle in the eastbound lanes. We then saw a two-vehicle collision about an hour or so after the first two in the westbound lanes.”

Though the snow had slowed down by Thursday evening, the cold temperatures overnight and in the morning did not allow for the road conditions to improve, Smith says.

“The roads (Friday) morning were very icy and slippery,” he said. “Especially with the cold temperatures we had and all of the snow that didn’t really stop Thursday, it didn’t really get a chance to melt. Even with the packed snow, sometimes it will give a bit of traction, but this morning it was just so cold it was completely frozen. When you get around minus-40, everything on the ground is really going to be like ice.”

Smith says the second crash is estimated to have caused $34,000 in damages, and that the MHPS spent several hours cleaning up after all three collisions Friday morning.

“The first incident in the westbound lanes was cleared up pretty quickly, because the damage wasn’t as significant,” he said. “The damage in the eastbound lanes took longer because the vehicles were going in opposite directions when they crashed. Then adding in the heavy traffic flow, given the locations of the cars, it took us longer than the first one, especially since we didn’t want to completely stop traffic.”

Police say there were several “near-misses” involving cars moving too fast while emergency crews cleaned up the highway.

Police gave out multiple tickets from the three crashes, with one woman being charged with allowing pets to impede her ability to safely operate a vehicle.

Smith says it is important for motorists to drive according to conditions, slow down and give yourself and other drivers space on the roads.