This winter's first significant snowfall in State College resulted in more than 20 traffic accidents for area police Sunday, including one in which three people were injured.

State College Police Sgt. Mark Argiro said in that incident, driver Robin Gould lost control of the car while driving through the 1800 block of East College Avenue and swerved into moving traffic, colliding with a vehicle carrying three passengers.

Driver George Emel Jr. did not have a chance to avoid the collision, police reported.

Emel and two passengers were transported by Centre LifeLink EMS to Mount Nittany Medical Center, Argiro said.

The medical center confirmed that Emel was treated and released.

As a result of another accident, a child was treated for a laceration above the eye, Argiro said.

All 20 accidents occurred between 4 and 9:30 p.m. There were also seven stranded vehicle calls that State College police responded to, Argiro said.

Since State College police was busy with calls, Penn State Police assisted the department, Officer Dirk Clouse said.

Four weather-related traffic accidents occurred within University Police jurisdiction between 5:18 and 5:42 p.m. Sunday, Clouse said.

None of the accidents resulted in injuries, he said.

Penn State road crews and Office of Physical Plant (OPP) employees also dealt with frigid temperatures, which made clearing roadways difficult.

A crew of about 200 people worked to clear sidewalks and building entrances before the pedestrian rush hour occurred on the Penn State campus yesterday morning, Gary Ward, OPP operations director, said. Employees worked overnight to clear campus roads, he added.

When the temperature falls below about 20 degrees, salt becomes much less effective at melting snow, and OPP resorts to spreading grit to improve traction for pedestrians, Ward said.