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Accidents blamed on wet weather

Posted on July 3, 2009, 7:07am

Multiple vehicle crashes in the past two days have prompted a warning from Mount Gambier police regarding the safety of motorists in heavy rain, hail and strong winds.

Mount Gambier Sergeant Nick Smith has urged road users to drive according to the conditions in a bid to avoid the inconvenience and possible injury caused by an accident.

“This means driving a bit slower, exercising caution and taking note of what other drivers are doing,” he said.

“With all the wind and water on the roads people should also ensure their tyres have good tread and windscreen wipers are functioning properly.

“People need to be especially careful at peak hour and if driving in hail, as the road becomes very slippery.”

Sgt Smith said the recent weather had impaired driver visibility and reaction time, resulting in four significant accidents, including at the Wehl Street North and Fidler Avenue intersection yesterday morning.

Police said the driver of a car crossing Wehl Street from Fidler Avenue failed to give way to a vehicle travelling south on Wehl Street at 7am.

Police believe this was due to poor visibility in rain and darkness.

One of the cars was confirmed a write-off while the other was suspected to be in the same condition.

“Luckily no-one has received any serious injuries, but extensive damage has been done to the vehicles,” Sgt Smith said.

In other incidents, more than $1500 damage was caused in a two-vehicle collision at the intersection of Commercial Street West and Wehl Street South at 8.10am on Wednesday.

Police also attended a two-vehicle collision on Commercial Street West at 1.40pm Wednesday, when one vehicle rear-ended another vehicle, resulting in that vehicle colliding with a wall.

Nobody was injured, but a Mount Gambier youth, aged 17, was fined for following the vehicle in front of him too closely.

An estimated $20,000 was caused.

Another rear-end collision was reported at 4.45pm on Wednesday when police attended an incident on Commercial Street East.

There were no injuries and about $1500 damage was caused.

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Comments

One Response to “Accidents blamed on wet weather”

  1. Michael Vandervloet on September 16th, 2009 10:32 pm 1

    Also as well as making sure in the wet you have good tread, having your headlights on would be safer as drivers would be paying attention to alot more during heavy rainfalls