Photo by Vince Fedoroff
WINTER'S HAVOC – At least one person was taken to Whitehorse General Hospital on Sunday afternoon following this multiple-vehicle collision on the Alaska Highway north of the Kopper King. Treacherous road conditions continued today due to the winter's first major snowfall.
With blowing snow and near-whiteout conditions expected to continue all week, drivers need to slow down or stay off the roads altogether.
With blowing snow and near-whiteout conditions expected to continue all week, drivers need to slow down or stay off the roads altogether.
"We were at three multiple-car crashes yesterday,” Doug O'Connor, the owner of Capital Towing Services Ltd. in Whitehorse, told the Star this morning.
"All of them could have been avoided by people driving properly for snow conditions, no question.
"... I think yesterday would have been a pretty good day to be on the couch watching football – unless you're a Green Bay fan,” he quipped.
Whitehorse RCMP spokesman Sgt. Don Rogers echoed that sentiment this morning.
"We are asking drivers to only drive if they need to,” Rogers said.
Police reported two multi-vehicle pileups this morning.
A five-vehicle collision on the Alaska Highway just north of the Kopper King occurred at around 4:30 Sunday afternoon, forcing a significant amount of traffic to redirect through Porter Creek.
Two vehicle occupants were taken to Whitehorse General Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to a hospital spokesperson, and both were released the same day.
Meanwhile, a four-vehicle collision snarled up the Robert Campbell Bridge going into Riverdale, and a collision between a private vehicle and a snowplow had Capital Towing up at the Alaska Highway weigh scales near Robert Service Way.
"All of it was people driving way too fast for blizzard, whiteout conditions,” O'Connor said. "That's how people die.”
None of the collisions are believed to have been caused by drunk drivers, Rogers said.
The sergeant noted that officers were busy responding to more minor single and two-vehicle incidents throughout the city Sunday.
Many minor collisions have likely not been reported yet, Rogers said.
He reminded people that only collisions causing more than $1,000 damage need to be reported to police. He asked drivers to bring along their insurance papers and a damage estimate when filing a collision report with police.
Whitehorse residents had received between eight and 12 cm of snow by this morning, depending on their neighbourhood, according to Environment Canada, and more is expected to fall throughout the week.
A frostbite warning was also issued, with the wind chill bringing the temperature to lows of -38 degrees.
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Comments (2)
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Kailey Irwin on Jan 12, 2010 at 12:22 pm
I'm with francias. Time is money and we can't afford to stay home, that's a ridiculous suggestion by the RCMP.
Last year they didn't plow Birch Street at all until a school bus got stuck! When they do plow, the sand truck is so far behind you get to drive on a skating rink.
All the businesses in town shovel their walks and keep them clear, the City needs to do it's part a little more and keep the roads clear for the drivers. I mean come on we're home to some of the worst drivers I've ever seen, last thing this town needs is bad drivers on extra slick roads!
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francias pillman on Jan 11, 2010 at 11:26 am
Stay at home? Is the RCMP going to pay my bills? Why dosent the RCMP condone the COW for not removing snow in a timely manner. Why isn't the city responsible for spending the most of the snow removal budget before it even snows? Why isn't this type of thing prepared for? Stupid drivers cause accidents, go tell them to stay at home, not me.