A combination of rapidly changing temperatures and rain set off another wave of traffic chaos on Thursday, this time in the western county of Hordaland. After a string of accidents in the Oslo area earlier this week, it was the Austevoll south of Bergen that got hit hard on Thursday morning.
The roads were so slippery that even one of the community’s heavy vehicles sent out to spread gravel on the roads, to improve traction, slid off the asphalt and landed on its side. The driver was sent to a local emergency clinic after the accident.
The conditions, similar to those in the Oslo area on Tuesday, were blamed on rain during the night that froze upon hitting the pavement and asphalt. Driving conditions were so hazardous that local school bus routes were cancelled and police warned motorists against attempting to use their cars.
The problems started Wednesday night and by Thursday morning several accidents involving collisions and vehicles running off the roads were reported. State broadcaster NRK reported that County Road 155 at Vassnes was among the most hazardous, and where the vehicle trying to help ease the situation overturned.
Other local bus routes were also cancelled and pedestrians were urged to use brodder, the rubber contraptions with spikes that can be slipped over boots and shoes to provide traction.
newsinenglish.no staff
