B.C. Highway Patrol has released dashcam video showing a dramatic crash that wrecked three vehicles in the Rocky Mountains two-and-a-half years ago, after the driver involved was sentenced.
According to BCHP, the crash happened on Highway 1 through Yoho National Park just west of Field on the night of Dec. 8, 2023, while an officer was working with a tow truck operator to impound a Mercedes for excessive speeding.
The tow truck at the side of the highway had its amber lights activated to warn drivers to slow down and move over.
Despite the warning, a tractor-trailer driver ran right over the tow truck and Mercedes, destroying all three vehicles, police said.
“Luckily the tow truck operator, the police officer, and the Mercedes driver were safely off to the side of the road, or they would certainly have been killed,” BCHP spokesperson Cpl. Michael McLaughlin said, in a news release Monday.
“The tractor-trailer driver could easily have died as his truck rolled over and he became trapped.”
The driver of the tractor-trailer, 38-year-old Alberta man Dalvir Singh Jhattu, was found guilty of dangerous driving as a result.
On April 8, he received a six-month conditional sentence, including 90 days of house arrest, and a 12-month driving ban. Jhattu’s sentence includes conditions not to possess or consume alcohol or drugs, according to BCHP.
The video released Monday includes dash-cam video from the tractor-trailer, the tow truck and the BCHP police cruiser. It shows the moment the tractor-trailer drives up the back of the tow truck, and the crushing impact inside the—thankfully empty—utility vehicle.
“Semi-truck launched in the air. I’m going to need ambulance and extra members,” the officer in the police car says.
Video from the police cruiser shows the tractor-trailer lying on its side, blocking three lanes of the highway.
“Hey man, that was close,” the driver of the tow truck can be heard saying.
Officers are seen running to check on the semi-truck driver, and report that he appears OK and isn’t bleeding, but is trapped in the vehicle.
“Normal speed limits exist for ideal conditions,” McLaughlin continued, in the release. “When road workers or emergency responders are at the side of the road, you are legally required to slow down even more.”
Under “Slow Down and Move Over” regulations, drivers must slow down to below 70 km/h in areas where the speed limit is over 80 km/h when flashing amber lights are present.
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