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WINNIPEG — A Winnipeg city councillor says the city’s icy, rutted roads are safe if drivers are careful and aren’t driving “lesser vehicles” or “very small cars.”

“I drove in this morning on Pembina (Highway). I drive a little Subaru and the cars I saw having trouble were two-wheel-drive, very small cars,” said St. Norbert Coun. Justin Swandel.

He was responding to questions about whether the city’s streets are safe to drive on after record low temperatures, a number of snowfalls, and a response by city snowplows some say has not been adequate. Several vehicles have wound up on snowbanks, medians and in ditches after losing control on the slippery, uneven roads.

“I think (streets) are safe if Winnipeggers adjust their driving conditions,” Swandel said at Winnipeg City Hall Tuesday. “And obviously the lesser of a vehicle you have, you don’t want to take your Yugo out doing 60 kilometres an hour on a 60 km/h road.”

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A minivan came to grief on Provencher Boulevard in Winnipeg on Tuesday. Walther Bernal