Accidents caused by slick driving conditions on North Okanagan roads this week have police calling on drivers to use caution.
“As the weather continues to cool down significantly throughout the Okanagan, the icy conditions will persist. Please slow down and give yourself plenty of time to get to your destination this holiday season,” RCMP Cst. Kelly Brett said.
While no fatalities have been reported in local accidents this week, there was a fatal crash on Highway 1 near Revelstoke Thursday.
Locally, there were two accidents within 300 yards of each other on Highway 97 south of Vernon Thursday.
A vehicle rolled over Thursday morning 15 kilometres south of Falkland on Highway 97, sending the male driver to hospital with undetermined injuries.
Another rollover occurred late Wednesday afternoon when a truck lost control and veered over an embankment on Highway 97 adjacent to Okanagan College. The vehicle was headed northbound when it hit a patch of ice. The driver was the lone occupant and no serious injuries were reported.
A near miss of more serious consequences took place at Highway 97 and Bailee Road on Wednesday about 5:30 p.m. when a three vehicle chain reaction occurred while a tow truck driver was changing a flat tire on one of the vehicles.
A Toyota Rav 4 with two occupants was unable to slow down due to icy road conditions and collided with the tow truck, which was parked on the roadside with its emergency lights flashing. The tow truck in turn was pushed into a Ford Focus, with three passengers, who were waiting for the tire to be changed.
Police said the tow truck driver was fortunate to avoid serious injury, while the others involved in the accident were all taken to hospital for precautionary treatment.
An accident of a more serious nature occurred farther north on the Trans-Canada Highway 40 kilometres west of Revelstoke near the Craigellachie rest area where three vehicles were believed to have been invovled in a head-on collision
In the three vehicles were several seriously injured persons, including a female who was entrapped and determined deceased. Two males were in various states of critical condition.
The people in the third vehicle appeared to have only minor or no injuries. A dog was also found deceased at the scene.