Multiple accidents forced police to close the A41 after extreme weather for the third time in less than three weeks.
Police had to close the road yesterday morning after vehicles began skidding on the road’s surface.
Nick Greene, 42, of Holliday Street, Berkhamsted, spun a full 180 degrees while driving on the southbound carriageway between Kings Langley and Hemel Hempstead at about 7.30am.
His car was in the verge at the side of the road by the time he managed to bring it to a halt.
He said: “I was extremely lucky I went that way and not into the central barrier. I was uninjured, and fortunate to be able to drive away.
“Looking back, apart from breaking a few bits on the car, it could have been a lot worse.”
As he drove off, he saw a bus parked on the hard shoulder with its hazard lights flashing. A car that had flipped onto its side was on the verge nearby. Police said the two vehicles had been in collision.
There were several other accidents soon afterwards and police were forced to close the dual carriageway until 11am.
Roads authority Herts County Council says the A41 is given more grit than most of the area’s roads – and was gritted on Saturday night before temperatures reached freezing point.
Spokesman Simon Hoggett said: “The salting of the road is not a magical powder that solves all road surface problems.
“We can grit, but if there is a very severe frost, it is still down to the drivers to drive within the parameters of the conditions.
“Apart from gritting it, there’s not much else we can do.”
The latest A41 closure comes after it was fully closed previously on Sunday, December 29, and Friday, January 3, due to multiple collisions after extreme weather.