Weather related accidents keep Troopers busy

Accidents due to slick roads and heavy snow snarled traffic across the Mat Su Borough yesterday.

Alaska State Troopers responded to an accident involving a DOT plow truck Thursday morning.  Corey Reiter, age 22 of Talkeetna, was driving his pickup southbound on the Parks Highway when troopers say he attempted to pass plow trucks that were plowing snow from the roadway.  He passed the first plow truck on the left and attempted to pass the second truck on the right.  Reiter hit the wing of the plow and then slid sideways and came to a stop on the shoulder of the road.  Damage to the pick up was estimated at approximately 15-thousand dollars.  There was no damage to the plow.

No one was injured in the accident.  Reiter was issued a citation for Improper Passing On the Right and failure to carry proof of insurance.

At about the same time, a school bus with 10 students on board slid off the road in the Wasilla area. The bus rolled onto its right side in the southbound ditch off of Shrock Road.   Most of the ambulances in the lower Valley stayed on stand-by mode, but emergency services is calling miraculous that no one was injured in the slow-moving accident.