Temperatures have been fluctuating over the last few days, making for some difficult driving conditions.
Freezing rain coated streets and sidewalks on Friday, and there could be more to start the New Year: Environment Canada is forecasting more challenging weather on New Year’s Eve.
“It might be significant amounts of snow for Montreal,” explained Alain Roberge. “However, it could rapidly change to freezing rain, and rain.”
Veteran driving instructors like Ahmed Gallani knows that taking to the roads in winter could be risky. He suggests keeping a distance between cars, and giving yourself plenty of time to brake to avoid collisions and sliding.
“If you see that your car is skidding or sliding, do not press the brake too hard,” he explained. “If you start sliding again, leave the brake, and when the car comes back into control again, then you press the brake gently again, then you stop slowly.”
But the icy conditions aren’t just dangerous on the roads – icy sidewalks are the cause of many falls and injuries each winter.
The city says it’s doing all that it can to prevent incident.
“We have something like 400 trucks on the road to take care of the sidewalks – we’re spreading salt and rocks,” said Philippe Sabourin, spokesperson for the City of Montreal.
If the weather acts up again, they say they’ll be ready.
“[We’ll pass] a second and third time if it’s required. We have enough crews, enough employees,” he added.
