A big blast of winter resulted in nearly a dozen car accidents in Nelson Friday afternoon and early Saturday — including a seven-vehicle pile-up in Rosemont.
“Fortunately most of the accidents were minor and no serious injuries were reported,” says police Sgt. Howie Grant.
Weather, road conditions, and vehicle speeds were all contributing factors.
Five crashes occurred between 2 and 3 p.m. Friday, including a chain reaction in front of Rosemont School involving seven vehicles.
Traffic was restricted for over an hour to let city trucks sand and plow the streets to allow for the safe removal of the vehicles.
Two more crashes occurred Friday evening and another four were reported by 11 a.m. Saturday, for a total of 11 over a 16-hour period.
The storm also resulted in Glacier Cabs pulling its cars off the road for 12 hours.
“I’ve never seen the roads that bad,” says operator Terry Maglio. “For my drivers’ safety and to stay in business it was better to close up for a few hours.”
Maglio says he shut down from about 8 p.m. Friday until 8 a.m. Saturday after three of his cars had weather-related mishaps. It was the first time he’s taken that step in the 13 years he’s owned the business.
He adds most customers understood the rationale, but he wasn’t concerned about taking flak.
Nor does he blame anyone except Mother Nature.
“The city employees did the best they could with what they’re given,” Maglio says.