Storm card : 3 days, 15 inches and 11 accidents

Three days of snow were not so wonderful for some local drivers, as police reported no less than 11 car accidents, though none caused serious injuries.
``Any time there's a major snowstorm we tend to have quite a few minor motor vehicle accidents,'' said Police Lt. Robert Nedder, adding that people may have stayed out on the roads despite the inclement weather to get last-minute shopping done.
The Boston area was pelted with 8.8 inches of snow on Friday, 3.7 inches on Saturday and 3.8 inches on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
Police reported a number of collisions and several vehicles that drove off roads.
In one of the incidents, a 37-year-old Dedham driver struck an NStar utility pole at 33 River St. just before 5 p.m. Friday, then abandoned his green 1995 Jeep Wrangler and took off in another vehicle, Nedder said.
The crash left considerable damage to the front and driver's side of the Jeep, caused the driver's side tire to go flat, and completely knocked off the rear tire, Nedder said.
A person working nearby heard the accident, and saw the driver get in another vehicle, Nedder said.
Police followed up with the Jeep's registered owner, who initially claimed that somebody else had been driving his vehicle, according to Nedder. The owner ultimately admitted he had been driving, and police cited him for leaving the scene of property damage, Nedder said.
Elsewhere, a vehicle backing out of a driveway collided with another vehicle on Westfield Street on Saturday at about 12:50 a.m. No one was injured, police said.
Later Saturday morning, at about 10 a.m., a plow driver backed into a building on Bridge Street, breaking a pane of glass, according to police.
In Westwood, DPW Director Tim Walsh said the weekend storm was not bad, though it was ``too long.''
``It was a long, drawn-out storm,'' he said. ``We had every condition that could be - ice, snow, rain.''
Walsh said he had 50 plows out at the height of the storm on Friday - 20 of the town's own plows, and 30 from two contractors. Thirty plows cleaned up Saturday morning, before 50 were again on the roads Sunday, Walsh said.
Westwood used 600 tons of salt this weekend. At $68 per ton, that means Westwood spent about $40,000 on salt over the weekend - ``quite a chunk'' of the DPW's $240,000 snow removal budget for the season, Walsh said.
Daily News staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.