Two vehicles sit damaged on Highway 67 near Road 7E on Thursday, March 6, 2014. (RCMP FILE)
WINNIPEG — Manitoba Public Insurance has a message for motorists: Start driving to the road conditions.
The public auto insurer says so far in January, more than 3,000 collisions have been attributed to not driving to the conditions.
During the first two weeks of 2020, a total of 10,000 collisions were reported. Of those, an estimated 2,000 were due to driving too fast for road conditions, while another 1,300 were due to following too close.
“Road conditions contribute to three times as many crashes in January, compared to the rest of the year,” said Satvir Jatana, VP, employee and community engagement with MPI.
“Recently, weather and road conditions have been extremely challenging with black ice, drifting snow, poor visibility and at times freezing rain. Motorists need to adjust quickly to ever-changing weather and road conditions.
Jatana says drivers should keep safe distances between other motorists, keep windshields clear, and watch for pedestrians and cyclists.
On the brighter side, MPI says collisions this month remain lower than the three-year January average (2017-19) of nearly 18,000. Of those reported collisions, about 80 percent occur in Winnipeg due to higher traffic volumes.
