Central Emergency Services is urging community members to slow down on their morning commutes after a particularly high number of motor vehicle accidents on slick roads the last couple weeks.
CES Fire Marshal Wes Perkins says the mornings are particularly treacherous when people are rushing to get to work.
Fire Marshal Perkins: “When people see the snow and the snow’s on the road they’re like ‘Okay it’s icy,’ but when it’s like this they kind of just forget and just drive like there’s no ice. It’s black ice so you can’t see it and you’re sliding sideways on it and you just need to go slow.”
He says with the Kenai Peninsula’s fluctuating temperatures, even sunny days can be hazardous on the roads.
Fire Marshal Perkins: “When you got mornings even you the sun’s shining on the highway in one spot and then it’s shady on another spot, that shady spot will have black ice in it, we get wrecks that way as well. All of a sudden it just turns into ice because that spot is colder than the sunny spot. It’s just a matter of take your time, leave early, and if you’re going to be late, be late. It’s not worth your life.”
Perkins says his heart goes out to those involved in bad accidents on the slick roads recently and hopes that drivers will slow down for changing weather conditions.