Province uses startling video to urge motorists to drive for winter conditions

The province is sending motorists a strong reminder of what can happen if you don't drive for the weather conditions.

Treacherous winter driving conditions are not new to most Alberta drivers, and the province is sending a startling reminder to motorists of how quickly those conditions can go from bad to worse.

With a video posted on YouTube earlier this week, Alberta's Solicitor General is showcasing the challenges and dangers Albertans face on the roads during the winter.



The 34 second video titled "Could this be you?" shows RCMP footage from October 2012. The video begins with the captions "Winter in Alberta... Road conditions can change in a heartbeat. From black top... to black ice."

Then, a white SUV swerves into the left lane of the highway, loses control, and ultimately rolls into the ditch on the right side of the highway.

The video ends with the caption "Be ready for anything and drive for the conditions."

Luckily, the driver in the vehicle was not seriously injured, however, transportation officials say despite constant warnings from both the province and RCMP, some motorists simply aren't driving cautiously enough.

"Those posted speed limits are for optimum road conditions. Many times in Alberta in the winter we are not dealing with optimum road conditions," explained Jeanna Friedley, a spokesperson with Alberta Transportation.

She says the video is a powerful reminder of how quickly those less than optimum road conditions can change.

"We find we get a really good response when we can use an image or a video or something to really show people what we're dealing with out there," said Friedley. "A picture tells a thousand words, who knows how many words a video tells."

"If I tell you the roads are bad, don't travel, you might not be on board with that. But, if we can show you a picture of one of our snow plows working, or not working for that matter, or if we can show you an image of how poor the road conditions are out there, then often times people really realize the magnitude of their decisions to travel, or hopefully to not travel," added Friedley.

She says the use of social media is becoming more and more prevalent in the way Alberta Transportation gets its message across to motorists.

"We're using Twitter specifically, as a very quick, easy, up-to-date way to reach a broad range of people," Friedley explained. "We're finding especially in some of the northern communities that that's where people are going to have these conversations, so we need to be there too to be the first to bring them the correct information."

You can follow Alberta Transportation on Twitter, @ABTransComm.

In February, the province is launching 511 Alberta. By dialing 511 motorists can receive up-to-date conditions on all single and two digit highways in the province.

Albertans can also follow 511 on Twitter, @511Alberta.

With files from Shannon Greer, Global News.

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