Heavy snow falling in the city and surrounding area is making driving treacherous and police are advising motorists to stay home.

Calgary police responded to over 180 collisions and another 20 injury accidents by 4:00 p.m. 

EMS was so busy that they initiated a Red Alert for approximately 5 minutes around 1:00 p.m., and treated injured motorists in over 30 accidents. 

"Between nine and 12 we had 40 calls and on a normal Sunday for a four or five hour period, we get one to two calls," said Paul LaPointe from Calgary EMS,"we of course have our normal call volume which we have day to day, so on top of that, we have all these motor vehicle collisions that we had to deal with."

 

The Calgary Fire Department was also out on the roads, responding to about 40 accidents and had to clean up antifreeze and engine oil from 5 of those.

RCMP in Airdrie say that the QEII Highway from Didsbury to Calgary is very icy and that there have been several accidents in both directions.

Highway 1 and 1A west of the city are also in poor condition and Cochrane RCMP has also responded to several accidents.

Calgary EMS is reminding Calgarians to be cautious out on the roads:

- Avoid driving while current weather conditions continue.

- If out on the road, decrease driving speed.

- Increase the following distance between yourself and the vehicle in front of you.

- Wear proper winter clothing or have winter clothing with you in your vehicle.

If you must drive there are several websites you can check out before you go to get the latest conditions.

The City of Calgary Traveler Information System has up to date information on conditions around the city.

The Alberta Motor Association has road reports for the province on their website or drivers can call them at 1-877-AMA-HWYS.

For those who are heading west to B.C., conditions and information is available on the DriveBC website or by calling 1-800-550-4997.