A council gritting campaigner has voiced concerns following a multi-car smash on black ice.
Kirklees Liberal democrat leader Nicola Turner said more still needs to be done by Kirklees Council and drivers to minimise crashes due to cold weather conditions on high areas such as Outlane.
It follows a two-car crash on Round Ings Road last Monday morning, in which four people needed hospital treatment.
Colne Valley Clr Turner, who lives in the area and has helped cars stuck on ice, has been urging changes to be made to how the council grits roads for several years.
“There needs to be an investigation into this incident”, she said.
“It’s a very difficult situation, not helped by the amount of wet weather we’ve recently had.
“Myself and Clr David Ridgway are still banging on about how roads are gritted.
READ MORE: Outlane residents hit out after "catalogue" of black ice accidents on Round Ings Road
“At the moment, the council uses a blanket method (where all routes are gritted) but we think they should be using route based forecasting (which identifies specific routes needing treatment using forecasts).
“They should be doing more grits on higher roads when the weather conditions look poor.”
Clr Turner also pointed to improving drainage.“We need to deal with drainage systems up there. It’s been such a wet winter and our water table is fit to bursting.
“This could mean that more water is running off from fields into roads.”
READ MORE: People asked to look out for elderly neighbours in freezing conditions
A spokesman for Kirklees Council said: “We work with the Met Office to identify our most high risk areas in advance of poor weather, and consider any technological opportunities to improve our service – whether that is in the science of forecasting or in winter maintenance equipment to support and develop our service.
“All this is taken into account when we identify priority gritting routes.
“We recognise that maintenance of the drainage infrastructure is fundamental to maintaining our roads.
“However, the recent high amounts of rainfall has put pressure on land and on the road network. Saturated ground adds to our challenge as any additional rainfall can run across the road.”
