Tow truck driver hit, seriously injured on Deerfoot Trail

[AndyL]

http://www.metronews.ca/news/calgary...oot-trail.html

Calgary police are investigating after a tow truck driver was hit by a vehicle and then taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Police and EMS were called to northbound Deerfoot Trail just prior to 16 Ave NE around 7:30 p.m. Monday after reports a person had been struck on the roadway.

Upon arrival, EMS found a man in the 30s had been hit while providing roadside assistance to a broken down vehicle in the far left lane.

Apparently the man was hit, flew up onto the windshield and then fall back to the roadway.

He was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition with pelvic and lower body injuries, EMS said. The female driver of the vehicle who hit the pedestrian wasn't injured.

Straight stretch of road - setting up pylons and flares? Fucking ridiculous!

You guys know CPS will blitz the 60zone passing stopped emergency vehicles now... That I'm looking forward to...

[firebane]

The sheer amount of stupidity and lack of common sense and road manners from drivers in this City is MIND boggling.

I was watching an ambulance come up behind a line of traffic at a red light and NOBODY was moving.. not one car.

[OTown]

Surprised this doesnt happen more often. Drivers in this city are completely clueless

[civic_stylez]

Originally posted by firebane
The sheer amount of stupidity and lack of common sense and road manners from drivers in this City is MIND boggling.

I was watching an ambulance come up behind a line of traffic at a red light and NOBODY was moving.. not one car.

Boils my blood... people in this city are completely lost. There are very few people aware of the 60 kmh when passing emergency vehicles... complete disregard for other peoples safety. Sheer arrogance.

How people don't see 10 different high power strobe lights on the side of the road shows where their attention really is and its not on the road.

[Disoblige]

It is worse in rural areas I find. Very limited experience with traffic signage/lines and courtesy in general.

You will see an ambulance or fire truck on the highway to a scene with lights flashing, and the person on the highway will not pull over to the shoulder or anything. In fact, the fire truck instead had to change lanes and pass the car going over 110 kph

[BavarianBeast]

Originally posted by firebane
The sheer amount of stupidity and lack of common sense and road manners from drivers in this City is MIND boggling.

I was watching an ambulance come up behind a line of traffic at a red light and NOBODY was moving.. not one car.

Agreed.

It's horrible in the NE. I fucking hate having an office out here. I honestly wonder where the fuck half these people get their driver licenses. 90% of the people I run into up here are absolutely clueless.

[theken]

What I've noticed driving around all day for most of my adult life, people are fucking retarded, and think they are entitled to the whole road, if someone has stopping room in front of them someone will be 100% guaranteed to take that spot, usually from behind thinking they are saving time, people will speed up when your signal comes on, people will not move over and will be in the completely wrong lane when they need to make a turn coming up and will just shoot over 3-4-5 lanes to make their turn, if you are parked on the side of the road with hazards, tow truck included people will come within inches of you like you do not exist, unless you take up some of the lane, then they will come in closer. People sit within a foot of your bumper while going 100 on Deerfoot, they sit wen closer when stopped at lights.

[frizzlefry]

The 60km/h passing rule is about the only speed limit I strictly obey without fail. People are morons.

[rx7boi]

Well....at least if you ever want a new bumper and a not-at-fault claim, it'll be easy to do

Unless they don't have insurance, in which you are then hooped, good sir

[CompletelyNumb]

Sad to see this happen. On a road like that though, the blocking unit should have parked half in the first lane and blocked it completely. Only way to do it safely (for the roadside assistance crew).

[rage2]

Are we sure the guy was speeding? Cuz a pedestrian hit at 100km/h would probably kill a guy instantly, and not serious but stable injuries.

I find the whole slow down in a single lane for emergency vehicles crazy. The speed differentials on a highway is ridiculous with one lane going 50 and others going 100 which really introduces even more safety issues. That being said, I don't know what could fix situations like this. Close off lane beside emergency vehicle? Slow down ALL lanes to 50?

[roopi]

Originally posted by rage2
Slow down ALL lanes to 50?

It seems to me most people don't understand this law and as soon as they see an emergency vehicle all lanes slow down. It's very rare I'll see the farthest lane still going at regular speeds when the adjacent lane slows down.

[Kloubek]

Originally posted by rage2
Slow down ALL lanes to 50?

Is the extra 10 seconds to their commute really going to kill anyone? If it keeps from killing a tow truck driver or other emergency worker, isn't it worth it?

Now with that said, abrupt slowdowns on highways in general are pretty dangerous.... so whatever....

[rage2]

Originally posted by Kloubek
Is the extra 10 seconds to their commute really going to kill anyone? If it keeps from killing a tow truck driver or other emergency worker, isn't it worth it?

Now with that said, abrupt slowdowns on highways in general are pretty dangerous.... so whatever....

That's the problem, it's not the slowing down and taking more time that's an issue, it's that every single solution introduces more dangerous situations on the highway.

[gwill]

With everyone rubber necking and one car slowing down more than others... Then one lane going twice as fast... Yeah I can see how things get out of control. Drivers can't help but to look at the accident or the broken down car as they drive by.

[gogreen]

Originally posted by rage2
Are we sure the guy was speeding? Cuz a pedestrian hit at 100km/h would probably kill a guy instantly, and not serious but stable injuries.

I find the whole slow down in a single lane for emergency vehicles crazy. The speed differentials on a highway is ridiculous with one lane going 50 and others going 100 which really introduces even more safety issues. That being said, I don't know what could fix situations like this. Close off lane beside emergency vehicle? Slow down ALL lanes to 50?

In Saskatchewan the 60 km/h rule applies to both lanes of a 4-lane divided highway on the side that the emergency vehicle is sitting, and both lanes of a two-lane highway.

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ts-sr/emer-urg-vehics-eng.htm

[Mostwanted]

NE is especially bad when it comes to driving, people dont know how to merge or stop for pedestrians ( probably saw about 5 people almost get hit at a crosswalk cause some guy didnt know why everyone was stopped). people doing 10km/h in the neighborhoods.

[FullFledgedYYC]

Originally posted by BavarianBeast


Agreed.

It's horrible in the NE. I fucking hate having an office out here. I honestly wonder where the fuck half these people get their driver licenses. 90% of the people I run into up here are absolutely clueless.

500 bucks on a registry counter in the NE gets you a license. Police know this and do nothing to prevent it.

[suntan]

Originally posted by FullFledgedYYC


500 bucks on a registry counter in the NE gets you a license. Police know this and do nothing to prevent it.

How much for the "new driver" sign?

[suntan]

Originally posted by Disoblige
It is worse in rural areas I find. Very limited experience with traffic signage/lines and courtesy in general.

You will see an ambulance or fire truck on the highway to a scene with lights flashing, and the person on the highway will not pull over to the shoulder or anything. In fact, the fire truck instead had to change lanes and pass the car going over 110 kph

Yeah one time when I pulled over to let an ambulance through I could see the guy behind me just RAGING... And then he finally noticed the ambulance right behind him. What an asshat. I have no idea how he didn't notice it, the thing was blaring and had its lights on.