Six vehicle pile-up on Alaska Highway

Monday January 11, 2010

By Vivian Belik

The first big snowfall of the season caused two multi-car pileups in Whitehorse this weekend.

Late Sunday afternoon on the Alaska Highway, two vehicles driving in opposite lanes were involved in a head-on collision. The crash, which happened near the Kopper King, caused four other vehicles to slam into
one another.

The driver of the first vehicle became disoriented when a plow drove past her on the highway creating a whiteout, police reported.

Slowing down and trying to steer clear of the plow, her car veered into the oncoming lane, hitting another vehicle. Both drivers were taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries. No other injuries were reported.

That same day, a four vehicle collision occurred on the Robert Campbell Bridge to Riverdale.

The lead driver in that accident noticed a bucket on the road and stopped to avoid it causing three other cars behind it to rear-end each other.

The first vehicle drove away without incident while two of the cars in the pileup had to be towed. The police are still looking for the first driver as part of their investigation into that accident.

As of Monday morning, no other accidents had been reported to the police.

The spike in accidents is attributed to the fact people haven’t had to deal with much snow this winter, said Sgt. Don Rogers.

“This sudden snowfall took people by surprise and now they’re getting used to it. People should drive with caution as there is still blowing snow and possibilities for whiteouts from transport trucks and plows,” he
added.