Black ice prompts spike in calls to paramedics, ICBC

Icy roads and sidewalks causing accidents Rain, snow and temperatures hovering around the freezing mark have left a coat of black ice over much of Metro Vancouver.

Winter weather is being blamed for an increase in car accidents and injuries caused by slippery sidewalks.

The combination of soggy weather and changing temperatures means that many wake up to streets and sidewalks coated in a thin layer of ice. Snow or rain falls and melts during the day, while temperatures in Metro Vancouver are often above zero, but the puddles left from precipitation freeze as the mercury dips below zero overnight.

Slippery conditions are being blamed for an accident Wednesday morning that sent a woman to hospital in Burnaby.

The woman was struck by a taxi on Williams Street near Douglas Road shortly after midnight, and it is believed that the icy surface of the street may have caused the driver to lose control.

Incidents have been reported on streets across the province, with approximately 88,035 calls made to the Insurance Corporation of B.C.'s Dial-a-Claim hotline so far this month. The number of calls is up nearly 6,100 from December 2015.

"Mother Nature hasn't been very kind to the Lower Mainland throughout December, and it seems that the snowfalls have all occurred on Mondays," ICBC's senior communications specialist Sam Corea said Wednesday.

The majority of the month's heavy snowfalls have been on Mondays, and the first three Mondays of the month saw about 5,000 calls a day, he said. Typically ICBC's Dial-a-Claim service gets about 2,800 calls per day.

On Tuesday, a total of 3,375 calls were made to the hotline, and another 3,119 were made as of 3 p.m. Wednesday.

"It has been a lot of weather-related activity… People have forgotten that when there is snow and slush and ice you cannot drive the posted speed limit."

And Corea warned the number of crashes will likely grow by the end of the year, with an average of about 500 crashes reported on New Year's Eve each year in the province.

Corea warned drivers to be wary of shaded areas, bridges, overpasses and intersections where black ice is most commonly found. It offers tips for driving in poor conditions online.

While calls to Dial-a-Claim have been up, paramedics say they too have seen an increase in calls for help.

Dave Leary, spokesman for the Ambulance Paramedics of B.C., told CTV that in addition to crashes they've responded to "quite a few" slip-and-fall incidents this month.

"We've seen a big increase in slips and falls with fractures and sprains, and head injuries," he said.

Many of the incidents are on sidewalks and stairwells that haven't been cleared of snow or ice. And although a slippery sidewalk may not seem like a life-or-death situation, a hard fall can be very dangerous for the elderly.

"They're very unsteady on their feet usually as it is and they're not quite as agile as the regular public, so it effects them greatly," Leary said.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Jonathan Glasgow