Published by Robert L Senior Reporter on Tuesday, 28th January 2025, at 18:00hrs
They also attended an eight vehicle collision on the southbound and a six vehicle collision on the northbound of the M61
Police are advising motorists to adapt to the weather conditions when driving after they provide an insight of how many collisions they were called to in one day.
In a social media post, Lancashire Police said:
“How many road traffic collisions do you think our officers get called to in a day?
On Saturday, 25th January, we received 76 reports of collisions, 57 of which happened before 6pm. Thankfully, they were either damage only, or people suffered minor injuries.
Many of these collisions were caused by drivers failing to negotiate the sudden change in weather conditions.
The M61 saw two different collisions, on both sides of the carriageway. We received a report of an eight-vehicle collision on the southbound side, and just two minutes later, a report of a six-vehicle collision on the northbound side.
Just seven minutes after that, on the entry slip road to junction 9 in Clayton Brook, another driver lost control of the car and found themselves facing the wrong way in the live lane.
On the M65, a car crashed into the central reservation, and also found itself stuck in the live lane.
The A56 saw two, almost simultaneous collisions on opposite sides of the carriageway in the Rising Bridge area.
On the M6, between junctions 29 and 30, a vehicle skidded on the ice, leading to a three car crash, then at junction 28, a car crashed in the slush, hitting the central reservation, and another car, leading to others moving to avoid each other, and subsequently colliding with each other.
You may wonder why we’re telling you about these damage only, or minor injury collisions. Well, we wanted to use this time, and these examples to highlight the importance of driving safely and adapting your driving style in the winter weather.
So, here’s some top tips:
If the Matrix boards are indicating a problem ahead, slow down – even if you can’t see the hazard ahead of you.
Consider the winter weather and remember that the conditions can change really quickly when it is cold, so make sure your vehicle is safe to travel in all weathers.
Adapt your driving to suit the weather…make sure you’re staying within the speed limit (which you should be doing regardless of the weather!) and slow down in bad conditions like snow and ice.
If you spot someone driving dangerously, or putting other road users in danger, if a crime is ongoing, or if someone needs immediate emergency service assistance on the roads, call 999.
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