POOR weather conditions wreaked havoc across roads in Cheshire today (Thursday) with police responding to more than 150 accident calls.
Between 6am and 2pm Cheshire Police say there were more 76 collisions on the county’s roads and motorways because of ice - 17 of them in Crewe.
Despite the high number of crashes - some pile-ups have involved as many as 10 cars - none of the injuries reported have been life-threatening.
A Cheshire Police spokesman said the majority of calls reported cars skidding off the road, or colliding with other vehicles due to the poor road conditions.
He added as the evening rush hour is approaching police are advising people to only make journeys that are absolutely necessary, ensure the car is fully defrosted with full visibility and to maintain a safe and constant speed and avoid sudden breaking that can cause the car to skid.
Two people are dead after two separate crashes on South Island roads.
One person died and three were taken to Timaru Hospital following a crash involving a bus and a four wheel drive on State Highway 1 near Orari, South Canterbury, around noon.
Police confirmed the sole occupant of the four wheel drive is dead.
There were 19 people on the bus, three of which, two females and one male, have been taken to Timaru Hospital with moderate injuries.
Emergency services were at the scene and traffic diversions were in place.
Meanwhile, emergency services were at the scene of a fatal car accident at Clarks Junction, 30km south-west of Middlemarch in Central Otago just after 1pm.
One person is believed to have died in the crash, which may have involved a single vehicle, acting Senior Sergeant Chris McLellan said.
Takoradi, Dec. 6, GNA - The Western Region recorded 136 deaths and 839 injuries from road accidents between January and September, Alhaji Sumani Mbo, Regional Manager of National Road Safety Commission, has said.
He said the same period also recorded 638 cases of road crashes, involving 833 vehicles.
Alhaji Mbo told the GNA in an interview that speeding was the key factor that contributed to the rise in the number of deaths as compared to last year in which the region recorded 133 deaths and 694 injuries.
"Speeding is a major cause of road traffic crash, accounting for over 60 per cent of reported cases", he said.
GNA
