THE Pacific Highway was the danger zone for motorists and police over the long weekend, with creeping traffic resulting in a steady stream of rear-end collisions.
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There were queues blocking the highway on Saturday and Sunday, including an eight-kilometre northbound blockage yesterday afternoon.
Overall police said they were pleased with motorists in and around Port Macquarie because there were almost no crashes on local roads.
A highway patrol spokesman said there had been no major incidents prior to Sunday’s separate Pacific Highway triple crashes.
The first of the triple smashes happened south of the Dennis Bridge at 11am, and the second occurred north of Blackmans Point at about 1pm.
The crashes during the rain have been largely due to the avoidance of one simple rule: give the driver in front plenty of space, especially in the wet.
“We’ve had no majors so far, just a lot of minor stuff which are mostly rear-enders due to the heavy traffic,” the spokesman said. “They’re all tail-gating and it’s a bit of a concern when there are that many vehicles on the road.”
While not giving other vehicles sufficient space on the highway attracted the ire of the region’s police, officers were generally pleased with the behaviour of motorists on local roads.
“Generally things have been quiet,” the spokesman said. “We just need people to think about the conditions and drive to them.”
On Saturday the Pacific Highway was effectively stopped in both directions near Port Macquarie by traffic.
Those near Sancrox were stuck in queues for over an hour as they crept toward their destinations.
Acting Inspector Paul Fuller said there were few arrests over the weekend.
