Rain, Freeze, Snow Prompt A Rash Of Traffic Accidents

By Andrew Gorosko

Slippery road conditions caused by Tuesday’s rainstorm, flash freeze, and wind-driven snowfall resulted in a rash of mostly minor motor vehicle accidents on local roads, keeping police, fire, and ambulance crews busy through the day and into the night.

On Tuesday, police responded to approximately 20 motor vehicle accidents on local roads, most of which involved motorists sliding into each other or sliding off the roads, according to police Sergeant Christopher Vanghele.

Many of the motoring mishaps occurred along the heavily traveled South Main Street (Route 25), an arterial road that links Newtown to Bridgeport.

Sgt Vanghele said the weather caused as many accidents as he has seen in one day during his 12 years on the police force.

The changing weather conditions had caused a layer of ice to form on the pavement, over which drifting snow accumulated, creating extreme slipperiness.

Two accidents on South Main Street caused sections of that road to close to traffic, resulting in motorists finding detours around the problems or simply waiting in line until accident wreckage was cleared away.

One midafternoon accident on South Main Street near the Monroe town line caused police to close a road section for a period, Sgt Vanghele said.

Another accident, several miles to the north on South Main Street, which was one of the worst collisions of the day, also caused a South Main Street road closure.

That accident occurred just south of South Main Street’s northern intersection with Peck’s Lane. Patrol Officer Louis Ferreira investigated.

Motorist Kevin DeGroate, 28, of Waterbury, was driving a 2002 Dodge 3500 commercial van southward, as motorist Christopher Arnold, 22, of 49 West Street was driving a 1994 Nissan Quest minivan northward, police said.

The Nissan then started sliding on the snowy road surface and entered the southbound lane, resulting in a collision, police said. Police said they issued Arnold an infraction ticket for failure to drive to the right on a curve.

Botsford firefighters were dispatched to the accident. Ambulance corps members treated both drivers at the scene. DeGroate was transported to Danbury Hospital for treatment of back and neck pain, police said.

Although the snowfall was largely over by Tuesday evening, police continued receiving reports of traffic accidents on Wednesday caused by persistent icing conditions on local roads.