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By Paul Bean
Winter made its official arrival in Vermont Tuesday, blanketing the state with 2 to 6 inches of fresh snow and turning roads slick across the Green Mountains.
From midnight to 2 p.m., Vermont State Police responded to 50 weather-related crashes: 27 in the northern half of the state and 23 in the south. Seventeen of those wrecks happened on interstate highways, with one injury reported, while 33 occurred on secondary roads, resulting in three injuries.
No fatalities or serious injuries were reported in the flurry of incidents.
On this #TrafficSafetyTuesday, troopers are reminding drivers to treat every storm like the first of the season: slow down, double or triple following distance, allow extra travel time, turn on headlights, and always buckle up.
These first snowfalls catch a lot of us off guard and a few simple adjustments behind the wheel can prevent most of these crashes.
“And remember, 4 wheel drive does not stop you any faster than front wheel drive,” writes one commenter on the VSP Facebook page in response to the post.
Road crews continue to plow and treat highways, but conditions can change quickly in higher elevations. Drivers are urged to check 511vt.com for the latest updates before heading out Wednesday morning.
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Categories: Public Safety, Transportation
Just like on the Blues Brothers, eh?
“First snow of the season keeps Vermont State troopers busy with 50 crashes”
Is a very confusing, liberal statement. A more truthful headline would have been”lazy elected state law enforcement forced to go back to work after taking summer months off!”
People drive without being alert to conditions. summer tires, don’t reduce speed, don’t know how to handle a skid, many in the state don’t know how to handle weather conditions, even in rain, don’t know how their vehicles handle slippery conditions, what vehicles handle slippery conditions–front wheel or rear wheel drive. (Saabs were great being front wheel drive. Volkswagon Beetles great rear engine putting weight on the rear wheels. Practice in a large empty shopping parking lot drive and get to know how the vehicle handles, spin it, sharp turns, power on or off etc and get a feel for the vehicle Some vehicles have instant power to the wheels and can cause a spin. Driven in many storms, no problem. 67 years of driving and some 2 million miles.
The answer in most of these cases is a simple matter of SLOWING DOWN . . .
Try getting OFF the phone for a change. Even hands off is still NOT paying attention to what you are doing. AAA many years ago, said even the radio playing was a distraction. Now we have vehicles that do everything but think for the drivers and they still cannot handle it.
Drive according to the weather.