Overnight freeze leads to chaos on Lower Mainland roads

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A surprise freeze overnight made for a treacherous commute on Lower Mainland roads this morning.

Inspector Tim Shields says icy conditions have put almost all of the RCMP’s resources in on the roads dealing with dozens of accidents.

“[It was] a pretty exceptional morning in terms of the number of collisions that we’ve experienced. Right across the  Lower Mainland, there have been icy road conditions with black ice on both the side streets and some arterial roadways.”

In Surrey, there were more than 40 accidents since midnight, according to police in that city, keeping emergency crews scrambling.

 

 

“It [took] up most of our uniformed resources. Some of [the accidents] have just been fender benders, many have been vehicles who have gone offroad right into a ditch, some of them have been rollovers,” says Shields, adding one man in Langley was seriously hurt after his car left the road.

 

 

If you’re slipping and sliding, Shield warns you need to resist slamming on the brakes.

“The panic reaction is to just hammer the brakes, but typically, that’s going to get you in worse trouble… If you hammer the brakes, your vehicle is most likely going to start to rotate or slide sideways. However, oftentimes you can steer your way out of trouble.”

Mounties say the best way to avoid weather-related accidents is to slow down.

It will likely be a busy few days for ICBC’s claims centre, but the insurance corporation doesn’t have a snapshot of damage numbers yet.

 

In Langley, police say a 61-year-old man isn’t expected to survive after his pickup truck flipped off the road on 240th Street just before 6am. He was two blocks away from home and hadn’t put on his seat belt. Roads were so slippery, as they responded, officers had difficulty standing up.

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