CPS urge caution roads after tragic day filled with crashes
Posted Dec 19, 2013 7:28 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
With another morning commute including slippery roads and winter conditions, Calgary police are out with a call of caution following a day that hundreds of crashes and two deaths.
In a 24-hour period starting at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, there were almost 250 crashes on Calgary roads, among them a truck that hit the median on eastbound Glenmore Trail just after 5:00 p.m. near Deerfoot Trail.
The woman driving lost control and after hitting the median, it car flipped over to the other side and hit a semi-trailer.
There were two children traveling in the truck, one of them almost 18 months old died and his older brother under the age of five remains in stable condition.
The mother received non-life threatening injuries and it’s not clear what exactly led to the crash.
Duty Insp. Jay Judin said it’s not just about road conditions, motorists also have to remember about increased volume this month.
“Understand that this time of year, roads are busy with holiday traffic, with people conducting their holiday shopping, traveling to and from Christmas parties,” he said, adding motorists have to adapt to the change in weather, especially when it first starts to get colder with snow following warm conditions.
“Road conditions that can be relatively safe to drive on in one point of the day, within an hour can quickly turn into black ice type of conditions and pose a significant risk to anyone drive on them,” he said. “We just ask that they be patient, keep their safety and those that are important to them in mind when they do enter into a vehicle.
A man was also killed in a chain-reaction crash Wednesday morning on Highway 24 between Glenmore Trail and the TransCanada Highway.
According to RCMP, treacherous highway conditions were likely a factor in that crash.
As for the collision that killed the toddler, there is something the public can do to help out the family involved.
Michelle Young is the founder and CEO of LegUp.ca, which has set up a donation page.
“I would then issue a cheque or money order directly to the family, so they can use as they see fit, if there’s medical expenses that they have to now take time off of work, any of those types of things,” she said.
