Updated 22.15 | Published 22.00
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A large number of traffic accidents have occurred in the Gothenburg area during Wednesday.
The police are now urging the public to take it easy on the roads.
– It can take hours for a rescuer to arrive right now, says Fredrik Svedemyr at the police.
It’s noisy on the roads in western Sweden. Snow and slippery conditions have led to several traffic accidents on Wednesday, says Fredrik Svedemyr, the police’s spokesperson in the West region.
– In general, you can say that it is a difficult traffic situation. There have been significantly more traffic accidents today than there are on a “normal day”, we can state that.
Fredrik Svedemyr is now urging the public to exercise caution if they are going out on the roads around Gothenburg and the surrounding area.
– There is reason to adjust the speed and now darkness has also fallen, which does not improve visibility, says Svedemyr.
The prompt: Bring a thermos
Svedemyr also believes that it can be good to be prepared in case you get stuck in queues or have an accident as a result of slipping. The high load can mean that you have to wait longer than usual for the emergency services to arrive.
– Consider the speed and keep your distance in traffic. Bring reinforcements, a water bottle or a thermos. In the worst case, it can take a couple of hours for a rescuer to arrive right now.
“Will take until midnight”
The many accidents mean that the tow trucks are not enough, according to the Swedish Transport Agency’s press manager Bengt Olsson.
– They require specific heavy lifters, of which there are not many in Sweden. We are working now and trying to get them out. On some minor roads, it will take until midnight before they manage to clear the trucks and vehicles that are standing along the sides, he says.
According to SMHI’s forecasts, the snowfall in the Gothenburg area will only decrease towards the night of Thursday.
After that, the Swedish Transport Administration prepares to handle the yellow snowfall warning issued over the southern parts of the country on Thursday.
– We are working and looking forward to late Thursday and Friday, especially on the south coast and in Skåne, where we have a high preparedness for the weather. We don’t know what that will mean, says Bengt Olsson.