Whidbey Islanders are experiencing a rash of so-far minor traffic accidents as they deal with the ice and snow.

Sheriff Mark Brown said Thursday that his deputies have counted 70 incidents, ranging from collisions to abandoned cars on the county roads.

“We’ve had numerous disabled vehicles but it doesn’t seem like there have been any serious accidents,” Brown said. And that’s the way he would like to keep it.

The sheriff noted that driving conditions are getting worse as the week wears on. Snow is falling on top of roadways that partially melted, and then everything freezes.

“That’s the danger, and that’s the part we’re in now,” Brown said.

One of his deputies experienced the helplessness of driving on ice. The deputy was carefully and slowly responding to an accident on Bush Point Road Wednesday. When descending a hill near the Mutiny Bay intersection, the automatic transmission is his 4-wheel-drive vehicle downshifted. That was all it took to send the vehicle sliding across the road where it came to rest on its side in the ditch.

Brown describe the damage as “cosmetic,” but used the incident to warn citizens of just how dangerous the roads are this week.

“It’s terrible,” Brown said, urging people to think twice before leaving their homes. To date, there have been no serious power outages on the island, so the sheriff recommends people “nestle down and stay warm” if possible.

North of Oak Harbor was a traffic nightmare Wednesday as a couple of semis jack-knifed between the Shrimp Shack and Sharps Corner. Brown said that incident tied up traffic back to the bridge. “It was a total mess,” he said.

He advises drivers to leave plenty of room between vehicles to avoid the “domino effect” caused by one person stopping and being rear-ended. This can happen when driving downhill toward a stop sign or stop light. When you have to slow down, “feather” the brakes, don’t push on them. Brown said it can help to put the transmission in neutral to reduce the forward force.

But the bottom line is that it’s dangerous out there and with ice below the snow, it’s not safe.

“Just try to stay home,” Brown said.

Many people have been finding safety in Island Transit buses, which have managed to maintain service on the highway and some major feeder routes. However, Thursday morning Island Transit announced some cutbacks due to snow and ice.

The following routes are canceled at this time according to a posting on the Island Transit Web site this morning, Dec. 18: Route 9, Route 10, Route 2, Route 5, Route 3. Oak Harbor Senior Center Closed. Dock Street is closed.

Route deviation in in effect for the following roads: Regatta to 8th closed, no Oak Harbor Library/College, no Crosby Road, no Wal-Mart at Erie, no Admirals Cove/West Beach/Fort Nugent (Route 6 Hwy 20 to Madrona-Madrona to Hwy 20), no Langley Route 8 or Route 7 at 3rd and Anthes, Route 411W and Route 4 will not be servicing Troxell/Monkey Hill roads. All Camano routes have been canceled at this time.

Meanwhile, all three Whidbey Island school districts, Oak Harbor, Coupeville and South Whidbey, are closed for the second consecutive day due to the weather. Snow fell most places over night, snow that fell yesterday and thawed turned to frozen slush in the overnight temperatures, and Wednesday morning snow was falling in Oak Harbor with temperatures in the mid-20s.

Many people seemed to be staying off the roads, which meant a fairly slow evening for emergency personnel.

“It’s been real streaky,” said Marv Koorn, chief of North Whidbey Fire and Rescue, Thursday morning He said it was slow at the start of the snowfall, but got busy for about four hours Wednesday night. They received six calls of people sliding off the road.

Joe Biller, chief of Central Whidbey Fire and Rescue, echoed Koorn’s comments.

“We’ve got all of our rigs chained up, but we’ve had a limited number of calls,” Biller said.

There was a rollover accident on Highway 20 near Island Transit’s headquarters. Biller said the driver was trying to pass a car and lost control. He said the driver was transported to the hospital as a precaution.

Most of the remaining calls firefighters responded to consisted of people falling, Biller said. He added there weren’t any serious injuries and any reports of fires.

The snow prompted organizations to call off a number of planned meetings and events for Wednesday night. The News-Times will post announcements on its Web site. Please email any meeting or event changes to editor@whidbeynewstimes.com.