A U.S. soldier who police said was driving without winter tires was hospitalized with moderate injuries after a three-vehicle collision Friday on a highway near Auerbach, Germany.   (Erinn Burgess/U.S. Army)

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — Improper tires contributed to a pair of crashes on the snow-slicked roads of Bavaria last week, and a U.S. soldier was driving in at least one instance, local police said.

An unidentified 32-year-old soldier was airlifted to a hospital in Bayreuth with moderate injuries after a three-vehicle collision Friday on the B470 near Auerbach, Oberpfalz police said in an email.

The soldier lost control of his car and struck an oncoming vehicle. A third driver then collided with the other two vehicles, police said.

The summer tires on the soldier’s car likely contributed to the collision, investigators said.

The crash site is approximately 30 minutes west of Grafenwoehr Training Area. An update on the soldier’s condition was not available Tuesday.

Another driver in that crash was transported to a separate nearby hospital, police said.

A day later, a single-car accident occurred on the B299, a local road running parallel to Grafenwoehr, the Army’s largest training area in Germany.

An unidentified 21-year-old American driving from Grafenwoehr in the direction of Freihung tried to pass a snowplow, lost control of the vehicle and ended up in an embankment, three local media outlets reported.

The newspaper Oberpfalz Aktuell referred to the driver as a U.S. soldier, while the Oberpfalz Echo said only that he is an American man. When asked for confirmation, police declined to say whether he is a soldier.

No one was injured in the crash, news reports said.

The articles all cited the lack of winter tires as a contributing factor for the vehicle’s loss of traction, though local police did not immediately respond to queries confirming the primary cause.

U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria issued weather advisories on Facebook on Thursday and Friday warning of “inclement weather and hazardous road conditions” and announced delays and closures to services on several installations.

Soldiers also get regular reminders about outfitting their vehicles with season-appropriate tires, “especially in the fall before winter weather begins,” garrison spokeswoman Kayla Overton said Monday.

Military police and the Directorate of Emergency Services also do spot and safety checks at installation gates to ensure vehicles are in compliance, she said.

The general rule of thumb in Germany is that tires suitable for winter weather are required between October and Easter.

Violators are subject to a fine of up to 120 euros and the assessment of one point on their driving record.

Stars and Stripes reporter Marcus Kloeckner contributed to this article.