Police warn drivers to slow down on Outer Ring Road after recent crash
Police are warning drivers to slow down on the Outer Ring Road in St. John's after a young woman was killed in an accident Sunday morning.
The vehicle was travelling east between the Portugal Cove Road overpass and the Torbay Road overpass when it lost control and veered off the road.
The 20-year-old female driver died as a result of the crash, and police say poor weather conditions and speed were factors.
The woman, a Memorial University student from Nova Scotia, was thrown from the car.
Constable Paul Didham of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary believes that unsafe practices likely led to the accident.
"The lady was not wearing her seat belt and some evidence that we've gathered already also leads us to believe that she was driving too fast for the road conditions. That's the main contributing factor to the collision," he said.
Didham said if the road conditions are dangerous, then people need to be aware of that and take the necessary precautions to avoid getting hurt or killed.
"If it's poor lighting, if it's heavy rain, if it's foggy, people should be adjusting their driving to support that," he said.
"This is a clear example of not doing so, the accident that we had here yesterday."
Increased risk
More than forty thousand people travel on the Outer Ring Road every day, making it one of the busiest roads in the province. Emergency teams have responded to sixteen accidents in the last month alone.
Police say speed is a big problem on the road, and when combined with poor weather conditions the risk of a collision like the one on Sunday is much higher.
Transportation Minister David Brazil believes that all of the wear and tear on the Outer Ring Road can result in ruts in the pavement, allowing water to pool when it rains.
"We know that there's continuous maintenance that needs to be done," Brazil said.
"We ask people to be very vigilant when they're travelling on it, to be cognizant of the weather conditions and that it's a high volume traffic area. Lower your speeds if the weather conditions are not ideal."
The conditions on Sunday were the type that Brazil was referring to, with fog, rain and plenty of water build-up on the roads.
Brazil thinks that if people don't recognize the increased risk and act accordingly, there is a greater chance of losing control of their vehicles and getting injured or killed.
"It's unfortunate and our message again is that the practice of safe driving habits will lower the risk and prevent this from happening."
