Putnam Sherriff Says Exercise Caution When Getting Back On The Roads

After two days with limited traffic, roads are expected to be busier Wednesday as people dig out from the snow.

Putnam County Sherriff Eddie Farris said the key is to exercise caution.

After the sunshine’s radiational heating melted some snow Tuesday, Farris said the roads will freeze again overnight. Conditions Wednesday morning will be hazardous. He said people need to take their time, drive safe and ask for help if need be.

“It’s hard for me to say stay off the roads, that’s easy to do, but everybody has stuff to do,” Farris said. “So, main thing is just be careful. Call us the sheriff’s office if you need them. We’re here for all the citizens and glad to help them, want to help them.”

Farris said the county has been fortunate, as many citizens have chosen to stay off the roads the last two days. He said this has resulted in keeping accidents to a minimum.

“We’ve had several people run off in the ditch, had a few stranded vehicles, but for the most part we’ve been really really good the last couple days in this weather here in Putnam County,” Farris said. “I’m glad to report as far as the sheriff’s office goes, we haven’t worked any incident regarding the weather that produced a major injury.”

Farris said the cause of most accidents in the snow is due to drivers not being experienced with icy conditions.

“Unfortunately, we get one or two of these type of storms a year in winter time,” Farris said. “Just enough to where we don’t get used to it. It makes it difficult for us. Really the main thing everybody needs to take your time and don’t get in a hurry. Don’t get frustrated with people in front of you or behind you. Just give everybody plenty of room and take your time and most people in most instances will be just fine.”

Farris said to give vehicles in front of you several car lengths or even 30 to 40 yards so you have plenty of room to stop. He said braking or accelerating can also cause vehicles to slide. He said if you start to slide to stop braking, stop accelerating and focus on controlling the vehicle.

“Just give everybody plenty of time,” Farris said. “Anticipate people slowing down and stopping. Most everybody is good. I think everybody understands the weather is what it is. In a couple days hopefully it’ll go away, and we’ll be somewhat back to normal.”

Farris also said when traveling in rural areas with poor cell service to let someone know ahead of time when you should make it to a location, so that way if you end up stranded someone knows to come find you. He said to make sure your car is filled with plenty of gas to avoid ending up on the side of the road in the middle of the snow.