Black ice caused many accidents on Highway 2 during the weekend. Thirty-nine accidents were reported just for the Olds RCMP detachment area.
On Friday, about 12 semis ended up in the ditch between Carstairs and Red Deer, bringing traffic on Highway 2 to a complete standstill while emergency crews responded to almost a dozen motor vehicle accidents.
“Both southbound lanes were blocked,” said Const. Cristina Barbat of the Olds RCMP. One of the accidents involved a jackknifed semi, which lost control on Highway 2, north of the Olds overpass.
Snowy weather and extremely icy conditions forced road closures in some areas, with motorists detoured to Highway 2A.
“Certain areas were iced up. People were going too fast and they lost control,” said Cpl. Al Nickolson of the Innisfail RCMP Integrated Traffic Services.
“It is like bowling; one takes the rest of the pins out. The barrier in the centre of the road did quite a good job of keeping vehicles out.”
Only one accident with injury was reported. On Friday at 3 p.m., a 19-year-old Calgary male driver lost control of his pick-up and trailer and hit a Pontiac Grand Am driven by a 30-year-old Red Deer woman.
“The Calgary driver sustained minor injuries,” said Nickolson.
The bad weather continued through the weekend, with drivers having to deal with reduced visibility, snow-covered and/or slippery sections of the highway.
“People should adjust to winter driving conditions,” Nickolson said.
“It just takes one person to ruin it for everybody else.”
