Snow on top of ice on top of streets and roads. Thursday was a slippery, gummy mess on Prince George routes but Prince George RCMP checked in with more stories of cracking smiles than cracking up vehicles.
"We found a lot of citizens helping each other out," said Prince George RCMP Municipal Traffic Services Const. Lesley Smith. "We noticed, as we were patrolling, other motorists and neighbours stepping in to help each other when people were stuck. A lot of public assistance was given to prevent problems or get people moving again. People helping people."
The only major motor vehicle incident happened at Highway 16 West and the Isle Pierre Road intersection when a pickup truck struck the back end of a transport truck that was beginning to turn off. Smith said "billowing snow obscured the pickup driver's vision and he neglected to back off the speed to account for this."
There were no injuries in that incident, nor were there any significant injuries as of press time from the many smaller collisions.
"There were fender-benders all over the city," said Prince George RCMP spokesman Cpl. Craig Douglass. "There were several cases of vehicles unable to make it up hills, so we had to sometimes direct traffic and help them back out of the tight spot or call a tow truck to pull them free."
All-season tires are not adequate for this time of year, Smith and Douglass agreed. Winter tires are now essential and any drivers without them are not only encouraged to acquire them forthwith, but are warned that fines and liability consequences can result if improper tires come to police attention.
Factoring in time and road conditions is essential now, they also said, which means one primary thing: slow down. Anticipation and traction are greatly helped by slow speeds.
"It is every driver's right to stop in front of you or to drive slowly in front of you, so if you run into someone ahead of you the fault will almost certainly lie with you," said Douglass.
Turning your mind to courtesy and forgiveness of the drivers and pedestrians around you will do much to ease the stress of winter driving, they said.
"The city crews were out quickly today and took care of a lot of our problem areas," said Smith. "By mid-day most of the high-volume routes were already clear and they kept at it all day. They were doing their routine clearing but also responding to our requests for help at certain problem points. We always get quick response from the city crews and we really saw a lot of examples of that today in particular."
Sticking to major routes might mean encountering more traffic, but a better chance of a clear route, police said. By taking your time, and equipping yourself with proper tires can make winter driving safer for you and the people around you from now until the spring thaw.
