BY AUSTIN LYNCH
THE first hard frost of the winter brought traffic chaos to Fermanagh's roads on Monday morning.
A number of minor traffic accidents were reported to police on Monday morning and many more incidents of cars simply sliding off the road or into other road users went unreported.
Despite the frost being predicted on the weather forecast the previous evening (Sunday) as well as on traffic and weather reports on Monday morning, many drivers were either caught unaware or simply ignored the advice to slow down and take more care.
Motorists travelling between Dromore and Irvinestown on Monday morning would have noticed four cars crashed into the ditch along separate sections of the 10 mile stretch of road while another car somehow ended up on its roof just outside Irvinestown on the Enniskillen road.
At 9.23am on Monday, a report came in to police that a car had slid into the ditch at Cuilcagh. Forty minutes later, at 10.03am, police received a report that a delivery lorry and car had collided at Druminskill road near Florencecourt blocking the road for a time.
Less than 10 minutes later, at 10.12am, a vehicle was reported to have gone off the road at Gola road, Lisnaskea. And at 12.30pm a report came in that a car slid onto the verge at Dromore road, Irvinestown (the incident happened at approximately 9.30am). No injuries were reported from any of these collisions.
A spokesperson for the Roads Service said that the entire road network was gritted at around 3.30am on Sunday night / Monday morning but due to showers of rain during the night, and a further shower of sleet around breakfast time, some of the grit/salt was washed off the roads, which subsequently froze again as temperatures were still well below zero as people made their way to work on Monday.
Following a particularly high number of collisions on one morning, the police have issued a warning to drivers. "If people are driving to work in the morning, and if they hear there is frost or black ice about please slow down and drive more carefully."
