Canada - Canadian hockey team fatal bus accident tragedy, 6 April 2018

[missy1974]

Calgary trucking company suspended pending investigation of Humboldt Broncos crash


https://globalnews.ca/news/4135621/.../?utm_source=GlobalRegina&utm_medium=Facebook


At first glance, it sounds bad but...

Officials say this is standard procedure any time a commercial carrier is involved in a significant or high-profile incident that poses a high risk to the public.

 

[gregjrichards]

[bbm]

You're saying there are no intersections without traffic lights in Scotland? I find that hard to believe. I haven't been to Scotland but I've been to England, Cornwall, Wales and those kinds of intersections are all over the place as well as incredibly narrow lanes and steep hills.

There are no junctions like this or ones with a 62 mph limit in Glasgow and surrounding areas. I have been driving for 13 years and never encountered one and I drive approximately 18,000 miles a year.

 

[CoolJ]

There are no junctions like this or ones with a 62 mph limit in Glasgow and surrounding areas. I have been driving for 13 years and never encountered one and I drive approximately 18,000 miles a year.

I agree. Saskatchewan is the only place I have ever seen intersections like this in the middle of a highway. Think about it. You are driving at 100 km/h and all of a sudden there is a stop sign. If the sun is glaring in your eyes and it is 5pm and you are heading west travelling at that speed, even the most attentive drivers could miss the “stop sign ahead” sign. I cannot believe it takes this big of a tragedy to get government officials to re-examine the obvious. It was only a matter of time before something catastrophic happened.
Unacceptable!

 

[Hatfield]

JMO
I agree that some serious changes need to be done for the intersection.

Rumple strips for starters for the 335 road.

The fact that someone local was trying to get officials to make changes since the last deadly crash there should have been enough. Now maybe they will be forced to do something.

Where I live we have some Route highways where smaller roads intersect with them and I always get worred when I am driving on the Route and see a car trying to enter onto the highway or cross through the highway from the smaller roads.

The Route highways have 55 MPH with no stop signs and the smaller rural roads that intersect them will look similar to what was there and look like this.

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The smaller road just has a stop sign similar to their intersection. The cars will sometimes pull out too soon with people barreling down on them. They dont realize how fast the Route traffic will be on top of them. It is scary.

I always try to slow down if I see someone on one of the smaller roads just sitting there. Because I dont know if they see me coming or not. I also have a vehicle with daytime running lights and I really think it helps for my car to be seen. When I had another car without the daytime running lights I had more issues of people not seeing me.

Oh and the color of your vehicle makes a world of difference in being seen by others. I used to have a grey car and you would not believe how many people would stare at me coming and not see me. I will never buy another car with grey color. I try to get a color that I know will be seen by others. I avoid black and grey. I know its hard to think of that when car shopping and sometimes the colors like that are cheaper so its hard to think about but it does make a big difference in being seen IMO. The flashier the color the better IMO.

If there was snow on the ground when the accident happened I do think the white color of the bus may have contributed to the tractor truck driver not seeing it.

 

[ldlager]

Just now on the cbc national news they broadcasted an interview with the father of one of the young men that died, Evan Thomas. The father said he drove to the site of the crash and arrived about 45 mins after it happened. The police wouldn’t let him get close to the accident, even though his son was involved. He said he asked the police constable how this could have happened on a sunny clear day with no ice or snow. He said the policeman’s told him the truck “blew right through the stop sign”, and also told him that the truck driver “said he didn’t see the stop sign because the sun was in his eyes”.

 

[Betty P]

Just now on the cbc national news they broadcasted an interview with the father of one of the young men that died, Evan Thomas. The father said he drove to the site of the crash and arrived about 45 mins after it happened. The police wouldn’t let him get close to the accident, even though his son was involved. He said he asked the police constable how this could have happened on a sunny clear day with no ice or snow. He said the policeman’s told him the truck “blew right through the stop sign”, and also told him that the truck driver “said he didn’t see the stop sign because the sun was in his eyes”.

If the sun is in your eyes and you can't see the road ahead, pull over, stop and put on your flashers. Make some adjustments to improve vision or reduce glare. It's basic safety that people ignore too often. Something similar happened a couple of years ago in my state where a driver blinded by the sun made a left turn into a group of bicycle riders, killing 2 of them and seriously injuring the rest.

Its no different than driving in dense fog or a blizzard. If you can't see ahead, why keep driving anyway?

 

[missy1974]

Just now on the cbc national news they broadcasted an interview with the father of one of the young men that died, Evan Thomas. The father said he drove to the site of the crash and arrived about 45 mins after it happened. The police wouldn’t let him get close to the accident, even though his son was involved. He said he asked the police constable how this could have happened on a sunny clear day with no ice or snow. He said the policeman’s told him the truck “blew right through the stop sign”, and also told him that the truck driver “said he didn’t see the stop sign because the sun was in his eyes”.

I have assumed this from the beginning. Only because we were on the highway (a different one) at the same time that day and going West, the sun was bright on Friday, and with snow (the area of the accident has more snow then where I am), it was just that much brighter. After finding out a bit more about the trucking company, I am also going to assume (which I know I probably shouldn't ) that the driver was probably not that familiar with the area. I will refrain from posting my other thoughts about the company until I know more.

As for the highway having an intersection like that... they are all over Canada like this, the only thing that makes this intersection unique at the moment is that 15 people were killed last week and it is being highlighted. We have an intersection on the outskirts of the city I live in... there is a stop sign where the road meets a major highway. Numerous lives have been lost there, and every time we are there, I just don't understand what the problem is, unfortunately, it always boils down to driver error, whether it's the sun, the weather, etc, it's still the drivers responsibility to drive carefully and according to the conditions. I am sure we will find out in the coming days or weeks that rumble strips will be added to the highway the truck driver was on, I sure hope so

 

[gregjrichards]

The sheer size of the two vehicles involved in the fatal collision on Friday is just one of the factors that will add to the complexity of the RCMP investigation.


It’s a crash that is impacting the entire province, members of the public across the country and worldwide.

It has also shaken those who make their living driving Canada’s highways to their core, and left heartbroken those involved.

At a truck stop on the outskirts of Saskatoon where a flag flies at half-mast, Rick Tompkins said after 22-plus years on the road, he is hanging up his keys for good.

The horrific bus crash at the intersection of Highway 35 and 335 helped him make up his mind about whether or not to retire.

“This is actually my last trip and I think that accident kind of brought everything to a head with me coming off the highway,” said Tompkins.

The images from the horrendous collision involving a semi and the Humboldt Broncos’ hockey team charter bus have just been too much to bear.

“I feel for the driver that was involved in the accident — it has affected me quite a bit,” Tompkins added.

https://globalnews.ca/news/4136308/professional-truck-drivers-haunted-humboldt-broncos-bus-crash/

 

[gregjrichards]

As the community rallied around the Elgar Petersen Arena, home to the Humboldt Broncos, a row of cars remained stationary – because their owners were never able to claim them.

Humboldt residents placed flowers on the windshields of the cars, in tribute to the 15 people who died and the 14 others injured in the crash between the Broncos’ team bus and a semi-truck on April 6.

The flowers were just one part of a series of tributes to the team and its staff who were affected.

Local flower shops are receiving orders from around the world to show their support

https://globalnews.ca/news/4135644/flowers-cars-humboldt-broncos-players/

Very sad indeed.

 

[gregjrichards]

A speed limit decrease currently in place at the intersection where 15 people were killed in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash is a temporary measure, government officials say.

Highway 35 runs from Tisdale to Nipawin, Sask. and is where the bus was travelling when it collided with a semi that was headed west on Highway 335.

Signs have now been placed at Highway 35 and 335 asking drivers to go 60 kilometres per hour instead of the usual 100. It is a temporary safety measure put in place as victims' families, media and others congregate at the crash site. It will be in place as long as it's needed, said Ministry of Highways spokesman Doug Wakabayashi.

Highways Minister David Marit said his ministry's investigation has so far revealed all signage was in its proper place. Asked whether he thinks the intersection is safe, he said yes — if the driver follows the rules

The intersection is within the Rural Municipality of Connaught. At a Monday night meeting of the RM, councillors passed a motion to ask the province to install rumble strips on Highway 335, according to Reeve Art Lalonde. The noise created when tires hit rumble strips is meant to alert drivers to upcoming intersections or speed restrictions.

Lalonde previously told CBC that more needs to be done beyond flashing lights that were added to the Highway 335 stop sign after a fatal crash 20 years ago that killed six people.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/intersection-safety-humboldt-broncos-1.4613910

 

[tarabull]

Truck involved in Humboldt Broncos crash belongs to Calgary company

Snipped...
...Singh said he had given the man two weeks of training and he had been driving on his own for that company for two weeks before the crash happened.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-humboldt-trucking-company-1.4613594

:silenced:

 

[gregjrichards]

Truck involved in Humboldt Broncos crash belongs to Calgary company

Snipped...
...Singh said he had given the man two weeks of training and he had been driving on his own for that company for two weeks before the crash happened.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-humboldt-trucking-company-1.4613594

:silenced:

I was expecting the driver to be older than 30. I wonder how often he had driven this route prior to the crash?

 

[varro]

Meanwhile, over C$8,000,000 has been raised for the families of the team and personnel on Go Fund Me - and the 50/50 raffle (usually for the players' educational fund) at tonight's Portland Winterhawks-Everett Silvertips playoff game raised $10,352.50.

 

[Snoopster]

There are no junctions like this or ones with a 62 mph limit in Glasgow and surrounding areas. I have been driving for 13 years and never encountered one and I drive approximately 18,000 miles a year.

There is no way you can compare the UK with Canada. Canada is MASSIVE. The UK has a population of approximately double that of Canada. Yet Canada has 1.35 million km of highway. If we presume that the immense amount of unpaved roads totals quadruple that, that would imply 8 or 9 million km of roads. This compares to 433K km of total roads in the UK. All in, Canada probably has at least 40 times the amount of roadway per person than in the UK, and I'm pretty sure that is underestimating. Additionally, the accident happened in an incredibly low population area. There is no way they would install traffic lights at all intersections of random roads with "highways" (and Highway 35 is not exactly what would be considered a true highway elsewhere in Canada).

If you watch the news you'll notice that they call Humboldt a "city" ...but come on, it only has a population of about 5,000, so just a small town. The accident happened on the 200 km drive between Humboldt and Nipawin (population 6,000). The only major towns on the way are Melfort (6,000) and Tisdale (4,000). Other than that it is plain open field. This is a very unpopulated area.

 

[Snoopster]

Holy crap! The gofundme is now over C$8 million!

 

[tarabull]

Just a little tidbit...

The entire province of Saskatchewan has an estimated 1.12 million people.
http://worldpopulationreview.com/territories/saskatchewan-population/

The city of Toronto (in the province of Ontario) had an estimate 2.8 million in 2016.
http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/toronto-population/

 

[gregjrichards]

There is no way you can compare the UK with Canada. Canada is MASSIVE. The UK has a population of approximately double that of Canada. Yet Canada has 1.35 million km of highway. If we presume that the immense amount of unpaved roads totals quadruple that, that would imply 8 or 9 million km of roads. This compares to 433K km of total roads in the UK. All in, Canada probably has at least 40 times the amount of roadway per person than in the UK, and I'm pretty sure that is underestimating. Additionally, the accident happened in an incredibly low population area. There is no way they would install traffic lights at all intersections of random roads with "highways" (and Highway 35 is not exactly what would be considered a true highway elsewhere in Canada).

If you watch the news you'll notice that they call Humboldt a "city" ...but come on, it only has a population of about 5,000, so just a small town. The accident happened on the 200 km drive between Humboldt and Nipawin (population 6,000). The only major towns on the way are Melfort (6,000) and Tisdale (4,000). Other than that it is plain open field. This is a very unpopulated area.

Respectfully I was not comparing the two countries. I am well aware how vast Canada is and the population differences. I was just stating that we do not have junctions like this one where I live in Scotland and I have never seen one like it before. I would not feel safe driving this junction and feel the stop sign with flashing light is totally inadequate.

 

[missy1974]

It's so hard to explain just how Saskatchewan is... soooo much open space! Every drive is a "boring" drive. It's not ALL flat, but it's flat enough! It is not unheard of to drive an hour to another city to go shopping, and probably more like 2-3 hours in some areas. There is a ton of farm land... we have major highways, but the majority or not major highways but are needed to get from one place to the next. We have "grid roads", they are every mile... they run North/South and East/West, every mile!

This is the best map I could find: http://publications.gov.sk.ca/documents/18/15281-2016 Designated Rural Road Classification Map.pdf

It shows the highways, and if you zoom in, all those greyed out lines, those are all roads too. All those roads meet up with or intersect with highways along the way. No way could you have those all as a controlled intersection.

ETA: it also shows towns and cities, it shows how far apart they are. There are a lot of towns that have very few services now and they have no choice but to travel to go to the bank or grocery store, etc.

 

[gregjrichards]

Holy crap! The gofundme is now over C$8 million!

I am not surprised this is a terrible tragedy that has affected people in Canada and around the world. The money will be crucial in providing assistance and rehabilitation to the injured like Ryan who has been left Paralyzed. He may have to move home and need a wheelchair accessible car.

 

[missy1974]

Truck involved in Humboldt Broncos crash belongs to Calgary company

Snipped...
...Singh said he had given the man two weeks of training and he had been driving on his own for that company for two weeks before the crash happened.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-humboldt-trucking-company-1.4613594

:silenced:

:silenced::silenced::silenced::silenced: Seriously. I will still refrain from posting what I really think... but I'm not really good at that and the more I'm reading, the less refrained I am feeling.