13 vehicles collide in two successive pileups on Highway 881

There were two serious collisions on Highway 881 today, involving a total of 13 vehicles, which blocked and restricted traffic for hours afterward.

Some injuries were reported, and police say one driver was lucky to be alive after the second crash took place.

The first collision was a six-vehicle pileup at about 11 a.m. near the kilometer 125 marker north of Lac La Biche, according to Cst. Chris Clark of the Lac La Biche RCMP. One male was injured and transported to hospital via ground ambulance.

Then at about 1 p.m., a second collision took place involving seven vehicles, roughly two kilometers north of the first.

"No one was injured, but one driver is lucky to be alive due to the amount of damage done to his truck," said Clark, who was at the scene of the crashes, describing the second collision.

Traffic was blocked for some time after the two collisions, though the road was cleared enough to allow for alternating traffic by mid-afternoon. Traffic flow was still at one lane by 5:00 p.m as police waited on tow trucks to remove the vehicles.

"We're still trying to figure out how it all started for both of (the crashes)," said Clark.

Clark said speed was a likely factor in causing the collisions, along with poor road conditions. According to Environment Canada data, the area surrounding the crash received approximately 4 cm of snow over the course of the day.

Though he said the second crash occurred due to the traffic backlog of the first, he also pointed to drivers' behaviour.

"Ultimately what it comes down to is speed, and drivers paying attention," said Clark.

"People (were) driving too fast for the road conditions, not being attentive, so it reduced their ability to be proactive. The second (crash) wouldn't have happened if they were paying a little more attention, and not driving at exessive speed. Then they would've been able to stop in time."