Wednesday’s heavy snowfall caused a number of potentially serious motor vehicle accidents as well as countless collisions on Saanich roads.While the morning commute was relatively quiet in the City of Victoria, Saanich police reported between six and eight collisions that could have been much worse than they were.In one incident, a vehicle went off road while travelling along the Pat Bay Highway and almost ended up in Elk Lake.“It was teetering on going into the lake but luckily a tree was there and stopped it,” said Sgt. Mike Barkley of the traffic safety division.“People are driving at 75 to 80 km/h and thinking they’re being responsible but then they run into trouble.”Police sent out a warning asking motorists to stay home unless they absolutely needed to get somewhere. Across the region, bus routes were cancelled, almost all were running late, and handyDART only brought people to medical appointments. While many private schools shut down, public schools were open as usual in the Greater Victoria School District. The Saanich School District was also open, though schools shut down one hour early.Snow continued falling until mid-afternoon and, by 4 p.m., all Saanich roads were reported as being clear. The snowfall reached between 15 and 20 centimetres, depending on your location in the city, according to Environment Canada meteorologist Doug Lundquist. “It’s very variable,” he said.Lundquist predicted another five to 10 centimetres by early Thursday morning.By Saturday, he called for rain but warned the new weather system could start off with yet another snowfall.editor@saanichnews.com