MHP Urges Drivers To Slow Down and Buckle Up, Roads Are Rough
The Montana Highway Patrol is imploring drivers to slow down. Road conditions have deteriorated over the past couple of days and MHP Captain Jim Kitchin has some advice that all motorists should follow.
“Keep an eye on the weather conditions because they are changing all the time,” Kitchin said. “The road conditions are changing all the time. Allow more time to get to your destination and make sure you are buckled up. Do not drink and drive. Drive defensively, that is the main thing. Drive a little slower than the speed limits. The speed limits are for good roads. When we have snow pack or icy roads, people tend to not really pay attention sometimes. Once you lose control of your vehicle, it is pretty much done, you are not going to regain it.”
According to Kitchin, it is imperative that drivers do not use cruise control while driving on winter roads.
“If you have your cruise control on and you hit an icy bridge deck, your vehicle is automatically going to lose control and it is going to take you about a second and a half to realize exactly what is going on,” Kitchin said. “By the time you reach over to hit your break, you have lost control. Most of the time there is an over correction when that happens. That causes your vehicle to spin out of control. You will either hit the bridge deck, go off the road, or you might hit somebody else on the roadway as well.”
Kitchin says there were a few crashes on I90 today. He was pleased that there were no reported fatalities and said everyone involved appeared to be wearing their seatbelts.