Provincial police are reminding drivers to slow down and move over for emergency responders after two police cruisers were hit in two separate incidents in southwestern Ontario over a 24 hour period.
The first incident happened at a crash scene on Richmond Street at Adare Drive, northeast of Lucan around 3:15 p.m. Thursday. The officer was directing traffic around a collision when a vehicle collided with their cruiser.
Then around 9:40 a.m. on Friday, an officer was investigating a crash on Bruce Road 23 near Tiverton when their cruiser was hit by a passing vehicle.
In both cases, the officers were outside of the cruisers when the collisions occurred and no one was hurt.
However, police note the two incidents highlight a need for drivers to slow down and keep an eye out for first responders pulled to the side of the road, especially when roads are snow-covered and icy.
"Clearly, this is very concerning for us as a matter of officer safety, as our members are out assisting drivers in need of help," said OPP spokesperson Derek Rogers. "It’s really an extension of [Thursday’s] message for drivers to slow down and adjust their driving to suit the conditions. We want people to devote their full attention to the job of driving, especially when weather conditions are less than ideal."
The safety reminder from police comes as snow squalls are likely to cause more dangerous driving conditions Friday night into Saturday morning for parts of southwestern Ontario. Environment Canada has a snow squall watch in effect for London, Middlesex County, and Oxford County, while a snow squall warning remains in place for Huron-Perth and Grey-Bruce.