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UPDATE: Emergency services repond to series of crashes on wet roads

Traffic slowed to a crawl this morning in Nanaimo due to an accident on the old Island Highway
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There was an accident on Island Highway, near the Norwell Drive and Jingle Pot Road intersection, this morning. (TAMARA CUNNINGHAM/The News Bulletin)

Traffic slowed to a crawl this morning due to three accidents brought on by the wet weather, say Nanaimo police.

The accidents took place on Island Highway near the Norwell-Jingle Pot Road intersection, on Nanaimo Parkway near Dunster Road, and at Duke Point, said Const. Gary O’Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman.

In the case of the accident near the Norwell-Jingle Pot intersection, a green Mazda Protege hit the median and flipped on its back, according to RCMP on the scene. The male driver suffered minor injuries with six stitches to his left elbow, said O’Brien.

A man driving a red Ford Mustang in the Dunster overpass accident lost control and hydroplaned, although there was hardly any damage, O’Brien said.

A red Dodge pickup was involved in the Duke Point accident and O’Brien said it hydroplaned on the wet surface, hit the median, lost control, flipped and a woman was taken to hospital for observation.

With the sunny and hot summer, drivers should be cognizant of road conditions when the weather turns wet, according to O’Brien.

“The cause was the weather and hydroplaning,” said O’Brien. “What people have to be aware is that the oil has built up over the summer, it’s been very, very dry. So with a heavy downpour of rain and the first time you hit your brakes, boom, you’re off the road.”

–files from Tamara Cunningham



Karl Yu

About the Author: Karl Yu

After interning at Vancouver Metro free daily newspaper, I joined Black Press in 2010.
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