There are an average of five collisions a year between vehicles on the road and snow plows in Saskatchewan and the Minister of Highways and Infrastructure says their goal is to bring that to zero.

At the event to highlight snow plow safety, snow plow operator Wendy Koslowski explained she was driving a plow in January this year when it was hit by a car. She was off work due to injuries from the impact and says for a time she couldn’t even pick up her daughter.

Minister Greg Ottenbreit points out that snow plow operators are often out working in what is already bad weather and then their plow can create a mini-blizzard when doing its work. The province is encouraging drivers, as we head into one of the busiest travel periods of the year, to pass only when it s safe to do so, or just exercise patience.

Plows will pull over every 10 or 15 kilometres to allow backed up traffic to pass. As well, snowplows are equipped with blue and amber lights and if those lights are flashing, it is the same as any emergency vehicle in this province, you must slow to 60 km/h to pass.