Yellowknife (Feb 02/05) - RCMP and highway bureaucrats differ on their reasons for four traffic accidents that occurred on Highway 3 between Fort Providence and Rae-Edzo on Jan. 29.

Several vehicles were destroyed - including at least two pickup trucks, a sedan and a flatbed truck - but there were no fatalities.

Fort Providence RCMP Const. J-M Sauve said stretches of Highway 3 were "like a skating rink" over the weekend and drivers were following too closely, especially in whiteout conditions caused by large supply trucks.

Rae Const. Todd Scaplen concurred.

"The roads were absolutely treacherous on Saturday," he said. "I hadn't seen the roads quite that bad before. It was just a combination of factors and stuff. I'm very happy there's no fatalities."

Michael Conway, regional superintendent for the Department of Transportation's north slave division, said 8,000 semi-trucks are re-supplying the NWT's mines between January and March, up 50 per cent from last year.

Those trucks can throw a lot of snow into the air making it imperative for other drivers to follow at a safe distance and exercise caution when passing, he warned.

However, Conway expressed surprise at the RCMP's contention that the roads were extremely slippery.

"That's the first we've heard about that," he said."The RCMP we'd spoken to said traction wasn't really the issue. They said it was more an issue of the snow swirling up behind the trucks."

Conway added that his staff have been performing regular highway maintenance, but hadn't cleared the snow from Highway 3 the night before the accidents because it was less than an inch and "not even enough for the plow trucks to deal with."

Bob Kelly, manager of public affairs for Transportation, said "it was normal winter driving conditions, really."

Christopher Carson, who was travelling from Fort Providence to Yellowknife on Jan. 29 and who saw the aftermath of the accidents, said it was actually a clear day.

"It was like constant snow blindness," he said.