Treacherous black ice was to blame for at least 20 crashes in Saanich early Monday morning, and some drivers are asking why it was allowed to develop.

An intense overnight rainfall washed away de-icing solution and then froze to create the black ice, according to the director of engineering for the District of Saanich.

“Last night we had very unusual weather. Around 2:30 a.m., we had high rainfall intensity that unfortunately washed away much of our anti-icing solution that we applied to our roadways over the weekend,” said Harley Machielse. “This morning we experienced a flash freeze that created icy conditions that the drivers experienced.”

That led to a number of early morning crashes, including two single-vehicle rollovers in the span of just 45 minutes.

No major injuries were reported in either crash.

“There was a substantial increase in the number of calls for crashes this morning and that was specifically due to black ice on the roads,” said Saanich police spokesman Sgt. Jereme Leslie.

In a multi-vehicle crash at Quadra Street and Beckwith Avenue, officers were investigating when a car hit a patch of the slippery stuff and caused even more mayhem.

“Our officers were out of the vehicle and unfortunately, an individual did brake and try to stop for the crash and ended up hitting the back of one of our police cruisers,” said Leslie.

The cruiser suffered minor damage but everyone was otherwise okay, he said.

Transit buses were also challenged by the flash freeze, and in once incident a vehicle slid into a parked transit bus because of the black ice conditions.

The head of the local bus driver’s union said he was “concerned” after hearing from a number of operators reporting a lack of salting on the roads.

“It certainly didn’t seem like the roads were prepared for the morning rush,” said Ben Williams of Unifor local 333 BC. “Black ice is extremely difficult to navigate and obviously you’re not aware where it is at all times. As much as people in Victoria dislike snow, a small layer of snow would probably be easier for vehicles and transit buses to operate on as opposed to black ice.”

Machielse said seven of eight salters and sanders were out all morning applying de-icing solution to routes, while one of the machines required maintenance.