Highway Patrol advises motorists to use caution as roads may ice
By John Joyce
Published in News on January 21, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
A sign has frozen over on Elm Street near Stoney Creek Drive earlier this month.
With the threat of winter weather looming over the next few days and into the weekend, the N.C. Highway Patrol is advising motorists to use caution when driving.
The National Weather Service is predicting severe weather -- snow, rain and ice stretching from western N.C. to New England -- beginning Wednesday night and lasting through at least Saturday, in the first of what will likely be two waves of winter storms.
Some of those effects could be felt in Wayne County Friday and Saturday. The Highway Patrol is increasing patrols, specifically Friday and Saturday night, and the N.C. Department of Transportation has already deployed salt trucks in some parts of the state, Sgt. Jonathan Whitley said.
"In any inclement weather, we want people to slow down, stay off their cell phones and increase their following distance," Whitley said.
In North Carolina, drivers are required by state statutes to use their headlights and are encouraged to use their windshield wipers, he added.
"It is important to make yourself seen and to be able to see," he said.
A press release issued Wednesday afternoon offered a list of safety tips -- beginning with the suggestion that if drivers do not need to be out and about, to please stay home -- that the Highway Patrol hopes will diminish the number of wrecks and disabled vehicles on state highways and county roads during the impending weather event.
For those who do have to take to the roads this weekend, be sure to wear your safety belt, Whitley said.
"Most of the wrecks we work in inclement weather aren't rollovers," Whitley said.
Seat belts are most effective in preventing injury or death in the event a vehicle overturns, he explained.
"But a lot of times, when we are out on (U.S. Highway) 70 or (Interstate) 795, is vehicles that have hydroplaned or slid off into the guardrail," he said. "And seat belts do help in those instances, too."