Winter will soon be upon us and black ice will creep back into the dangers of driving on the roads of Placer County, California. Everyone thinks that black ice only appears in the higher elevations but one must be very careful in areas of Placer County that are in the lower elevations like Rocklin, Roseville, Auburn, Loomis, Penryn, Granite Bay, Lincoln and other cities and towns. I remember back in 2010 there was a lot of rain and flooding around Placer County causing a number of automobile accidents. Many of these accidents are caused by black ice. Black ice is difficult to see as the road at times looks clear as the thin sheet of ice makes it almost impossible to know if the road is slippery or not. This black ice is usually caused by overnight temperatures that drop below, or just below, freezing. In December of 2010, on Sierra College Blvd., near Twin Bridges Road a number of accidents occurred due to vehicles hitting black ice and crashing. Right after these accidents occurred another SUV going the opposite direction hit some ice and skidded across a lane before rolling down a one-hundred foot hill. Usually in lower elevations it is too late when the county or city puts out warning signs or decides to sand the roads. Another example of accidents on placer county due to black ice occurred on December 30, 2010, where a number of vehicles spun out after hitting an iced-over flooded area off of Eureka Road in Granite Bay, California causing damage and many wrecked cars and trucks. This black ice is usually caused by water run-off that freezes overnight or by a flooded area that freezes overnight. Either way be careful when you are driving in a few months when the cold weather hits. You don’t want to be another icy roads crash for the California Highway Patrol.
On another note, I just recently learned that the small town of Loomis has some interesting high profile automobile accident crash investigators. The Town of Loomis has a Placer County Sheriff substation just off of 1-80 freeway and Horseshoe bar road. You would think this small police office would just house a few sheriff patrols. However a Critical Accident Response Team is based in the small town of Loomis. This team responds to any major auto or truck accidents around the Loomis and Penryn area. Participation in this response team requires the officers to go through some intense auto accident training that is at a higher level than the typical police officer. They are trained to take a usually caotic scene of a serious accident where people have been injured and turn it into a very comprehensive analysis of how the auto, truck or motorcycle accident occurred. These auto accident specialists (according to a report by the Placer County Sheriff) are a great asset for a small community like Loomis. The small towns around Placer County may not need to rely on the expertise of the M.A.I.T. team of the California Highway Patrol to investigate serious injury automobile or motorcycle accidents anymore.
Fred Penney is the managing partner at Penney and Associates, a personal injury law firm with offices located throughout California.