he first snowfall of the season brings car wrecks and unintentional off-roading adventures.

According to DeKalb police crash reports, seven wrecks took place after Wednesday’s snowstorm.

When the snow first started to fall, the city of DeKalb’s Department of Public Works went into action.

“We went out at about 12:30 today and got all the main roads,” said Jim Ryan, working supervisor of the Street Operations Division. “We plowed and salted those and now we are going to work on the residential roads.”

Despite the number of wrecks and people sliding off the roads, Ryan said the snow wasn’t too difficult to clear.

Lisa Lewis, dispatcher at A to Z Towing, 4211 Stephanie Drive, Cortland, agreed.

“This is nothing like last year, when I-88 turned into ice the minute it snowed,” she said. “We’ve had 18 calls, but only three were related to the snow and driving.”

This didn’t seem to be the case in DeKalb, though.

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office reported 15 wrecks in the area, as well as about 30 vehicles stuck in ditches.

Seven crashes occurred in DeKalb, resulting in some injuries.

At the intersection of Normal Road and West Hillcrest Drive, a driver’s truck began to fishtail in the intersection and struck another vehicle head-on. At the KCH access drive, a driver began to slide when he hit his brake at a stop sign. He struck a car driving in the 600 block of Bethany Road.

Another collision involving a Huskie Bus occurred at the 1200 block of West Lincoln Highway. The bus stopped to pick up passengers and was struck from behind by a car skidding in the snow.

Ryan said all of the wrecks easily could have been resolved.

“The motorists just need to learn to slow down when it’s the first snow,” Ryan said. “That would solve a lot of problems.”

Sgt. Wayne Sanderelin, of the Illinois State Police, agreed.

“Everyone needs to realize the first snow means that you need to drive slow to avoid accidents.”