Ontario Provincial Police are urging motorists to stay off the province's roads as very poor visibility made for downright terrible driving conditions throughout Saturday.
Few spots were worse than Highway 400, a portion of which was closed Saturday night north of the Highway 11 split due to the heavy snowfall.
"The roads are very slippery. The ramps are extremely slippery. You have to take extra care. We've got collisions everywhere because vehicles are spinning out," warned OPP Const. Dave Woodford who was out patrolling the highway from Major Mackenzie to the Barrie area.
The treacherous driving conditions had city crews working overtime all day, salting and plowing roads to make them as safe as possible for motorists, which at its best still was far from ideally safe. Want proof? OPP officers estimated there were 700 crashes in a 24-hour period reaching back to Friday night when the snow first started to fall. Roughly 200 of those came from the GTA alone.
"Our crews are in for a longer stretch this time. We will have to give them a rest period in between if we do go out twice in some areas," explained Peter Noehammer, Director of Toronto Transportation Services. "We'll be busy today and tomorrow cleaning things up for Monday."
If staying home isn't an option for you, Woodford strongly recommends doing a quick safety inspection of your vehicle before hitting the road. It's advice that could certainly have helped Sophie Marai, who suffered roughly $3,000 worth of damage to her car Saturday.
"Everybody's going slow, you hit some black ice, you spin and someone hits you," she lamented.
Main things to check are:
- Windshield washer fluid,
- Make sure all your lights are working,
- Extra clothing in your vehicle,
- One or two tea candles,
- Water bottles,
- Perhaps most importantly make sure your fuel tank is full.
Officials also warn pedestrians to stay out of the street, despite the temptation to walk in the road where the snow might be partially cleared or compacted. They add that if you absolutely have to walk where the cars go, at least try to do it facing oncoming traffic so you can see them even if they can't spot you.