Rain falling on frozen asphalt made roads slippery and hazardous all over the country on Tuesday, and that was blamed for a series of collisions and a 14-car pile-up on the E18 near Holmestrand south of Oslo. Police were slowly escorting convoys of cars on the E6 motorway in Østfold county after dozens of cars slid off the pavement.
“Cars were lying all over the place along the road,” one motorist told state broadcaster NRK, describing the scene on the E6 near Moss as “completely chaotic.” He said cars had crashed into one another and spun off the road into ditches.
The situation was just as bad in the mountains and in the western counties of Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane. Even when driving slowly, cars were unable to brake and quickly spun out of control. Highway patrols in Buskerud, Telemark and Agder also warned of “extremely slippery roads.” The northbound lanes of the E18 were closed after the chain collision at Homestrand.
There were remarkably few injuries and police said that conditions improved during the evening, after emergency crews were finally able to lay out salt and gravel on main thoroughfares. Secondary roads were still slick and dangerous, though, and police urged motorists to “stay home and don’t even attempt to drive.”
newsinenglish.no staff
