Icy roads Sunday, Monday cause relatively few accidents

Motorists in Southeast Missouri have had plenty of practice driving on ice this winter.

If reports from local law enforcement agencies are any indication, either that practice is paying off, or people have stopped trying to travel on slippery roads.

Between noon Saturday and 1:45 p.m. Monday, Cape Girardeau police took 11 crash reports, said Darin Hickey, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

"It's higher than a normal weekend," he said. "Any crash is too many, but when you're dealing with very poor road conditions, that's not terrible."

None of the crashes resulted in injuries, Hickey said, and many vehicles emerged unscathed after sliding off the road.

"We've had several reported off the road or stuck, obviously -- well over 25, 30 -- but some of those didn't require a report, because there was no damage done," he said.

Officers stayed busy helping drivers who got stuck at intersections, where snowplows created small snowbanks, Hickey said.

"Officers have been out trying to help as much as possible, getting these vehicles unstuck," he said.

Across most of the region, weather-related traffic problems seemed to be minimal -- a circumstance most dispatchers attributed to drivers staying home instead of taking chances on icy roads.

A Jackson Police Department dispatcher said no accidents were reported during the day Sunday. On Monday, officers responded to a couple of crashes and assisted two or three drivers who had gotten stuck.

Scott City police handled a pair of accidents, while Scott County deputies responded to six crashes Sunday and one Monday.

To the north, a Bollinger County, Mo., dispatcher said deputies handled two accidents Monday and none Sunday, while neither Perryville nor Perry County, Mo., received any accident reports Monday, despite road conditions dispatchers described variously as "snow-packed" and in some cases "nasty."

The Missouri State Highway Patrol stayed a bit busier. Between noon and 3 p.m. Sunday -- with sleet covering many roads -- troopers in Southeast Missouri received 26 accident reports, including one involving an injury, Cpl. Clark Parrott told the Southeast Missourian.

In Stoddard County, one adult and six children from Poplar Bluff, Mo., had minor injuries after the 2004 Dodge Durango in which they were riding lost control on the ice, ran off the road and overturned shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday on Highway 153 seven miles north of Parma, Mo., according to a report from the patrol.

About 11:15 a.m. Sunday, a woman and two children from Georgia sustained minor to moderate injuries when a 1998 Honda Passport, traveling too fast for conditions, slid off the road and overturned on Interstate 55 four miles south of Old Appleton, the patrol reported.

About five hours later, troopers responded to a single-vehicle crash on Highway 34 three miles west of Jackson. A 2003 Ford F-250 driven by a man from Marble Hill, Mo., lost control on the ice, ran off the road and overturned, causing minor injuries to the driver, the patrol reported.

epriddy@semissourian.com

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