Slow down, drive for the winter conditions.
Vernon-North Okanagan RCMP are again reminding the motoring public to use caution in bad weather, after the local detachment dealt with more than 20 accidents between Saturday and noon Monday.
“You need to be driving safely and responsibly in the conditions,” said RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy.
“This includes ensuring that your vehicle is properly equipped and maintained, and that you slow down in hazardous conditions.
“Many of the weekend accidents included injuries to those involved. Please slow down, drive safely, and get to where you are going in one piece.”
Weather and conditions are believed to be significant contributing factors in all cases.
Two men in their 70s were taken to Vernon Jubilee Hospital with unknown injuries after a two-vehicle accident shortly after 11 a.m. Monday on the Swan Lake Overpass.
The two men were the drivers of the vehicles, which were towed due to damage.
Anyone who witnessed that collision is asked to call the Vernon detachment at 250-545-7171.
Two Salmon Arm residents were taken to hospital Sunday after their van collided with an Armstrong Spallumcheen Fire Department truck.
The incident happened at around 10:30 a.m. on Highway 97A at Smith Drive.
“A Dodge Caravan was heading south and it failed to yield for the light at Smith Drive,” said Noseworthy. “It collided with the fire truck turning left from the northbound lanes.”
The occupants of the fire truck, coming back from a call, were not hurt. The 48-year-old male driver and his 14-year-old female passenger were taken to VJH with serious injuries.
Less than an hour earlier, RCMP responded to a two-vehicle collision on Highway 97 at Highland Road, at the north end of Swan Lake.
A northbound Toyota Corolla lost control on the highway at around 9:45 a.m., crossed the median and collided with a southbound GMC Sierra pickup.
The 44-year-old driver of the car, from Salmon Arm, and the 51-year-old male driver of the truck, along with his 47-year-old female passenger – both from the Westside Road area – were transported to VJH with injuries.
Highway 97A near Powerhouse Road in Spallumcheen was closed for nearly seven hours Saturday following a multi-vehicle collision at around 3:15 p.m.
A southbound Dodge Ram pickup lost control and entered the northbound lanes, striking a Dodge van and a Hyundai Elantra.
The driver of the Ram, a 53-year-old Enderby man, and the driver of the Elantra, a 33-year-old Salmon Arm man, were taken to VJH with minor injuries.
The 68-year-old male driver of the van, and his 53-year-old female passenger, both from Spallumcheen, were also taken to hospital with serious injuries.