More accountability needed; transportation critic speaks on overpass crashes
Posted May 29, 2023 10:05 pm.
Two large trucks hit two separate overpasses on Highway 1 Monday morning, a problem that one critic says should have stiffer penalties.
A truck travelling along Highway 1 hit the No. 3 Road overpass in Abbotsford around 5:30 a.m., colliding with one of the structure’s supports and bursting into flames.
Just over an hour later, a second truck hit the 264th Street overpass while heading west through Aldergrove.
This isn’t the first time something like this has happened, with a recent collision seeing a commercial vehicle carrying a large load smash into an Abbotsford overpass.
Police in Abbotsford say no one was hurt.
BC United Transportation Critic Trevor Halford says this is a problem that is becoming far too common.
“If you look at the last year, we’ve had over a dozen of these instances,” he said.
Halford says more needs to be done to prevent the collisions, and says he believes the problems stem from a lack of accountability.
“There seems to be adequate signs in terms of height and things like that. I know in the past Minister Flemming has talked tough on fines — all I’ve seen is talk.”
“This is not a one-off,” Halford added. “They’re obviously very, very dangerous, and I think when you look at some of the dramatic video that we’ve seen we are very, very lucky that fatalities have not been involved here.”
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In a statement to CityNews, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says they are working with the trucking industry to implement “new actions.”
“The ministry is working with the trucking industry on new actions we can take with higher fines, steeper penalties, longer suspensions, and more driver education to stop these collisions from happening,” the statement reads.
It goes on to say that commercial vehicle drivers are responsible for making sure their loads meet their own permit conditions, specifically the regulations revolving around the size of their loads.
Meanwhile, Dave Earle, president of the BC Trucking Association echoed much of the Ministry’s statement, placing the onus on drivers and saying he believes the issue stems from oversized loads.
According to driving and transportation regulations from the B.C. government, “the actual trailer height must be no more than 4.15 metres.”
“The conversation that needs to happen right when that load is being loaded isn’t happening — that’s where the carrier has to make sure the driver knows 4.15 [metres] or less otherwise we have to pull a permit, and the driver has to realize that ultimately, they’re responsible for that load,” Earle explained.
According to data from the provincial government, there have been five bridge strikes since the start of 2023, with three of them seeing tickets handed out and the remaining two still being under investigation.
In 2022, twelve bridge strikes took place throughout the province, with all but one seeing violation tickets handed out.
“I don’t remember this happening years and years ago, maybe there was a couple of one-offs,” said Halford. “The fact is, we are talking about 15 in the last year.”
