Truck smashes into parked vehicles
No one hurt but several automobiles damaged near Birch Syrup Sugar Shack event
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
At least two vehicles, parked alongside the Ingraham Trail, were damaged Sunday when they were struck by a truck driven by a man driving erratically on the road.
The accident occurred just past the turnoff exit to Dettah near the Birch Syrup Sugar Shack open house, hosted by the Sap Sucker Birch Syrup Co-operative, that was taking place at the time.
No one was hurt, although a mini-van was badly damaged as it was broadsided by the truck and pushed off the shoulder and partially into the ditch. It's believed the vehicles were parked there by people who were visiting the sugar shack open house.
Cody Punter, a Yellowknifer editor who was heading east on the Ingraham Trail near Giant Mine at the time, said he first noticed the pickup when he spotted it in his rear view mirror "weaving and driving aggressively."
After it passed the car behind him on a double yellow line, Punter said the driver began to tailgate him and then subsequently passed him with only inches to spare.
At one point the truck was being driven completely onto the shoulder while taking a sharp corner, he said.
"That's when I became concerned and told my girlfriend to call police," Punter said.
As the truck approached a line of parked cars on both sides of the highway, Punter said he saw the truck veer into the oncoming lane and come dangerously close to families who were about to cross the road from the sugar shack to their vehicles.
The driver then corrected and slowly drifted back onto his side of the highway and into the parked vehicles, knocking a mini-van partly into the ditch, Punter added.
Other witnesses said they saw the Mounties arrive on the scene about 10 minutes after the crash.
One man, who asked not to be named, saw the crash occur. He said he immediately went to the truck see if the driver was OK.
He said the driver, a man appearing to be in his mid- to late 20s and wearing a cast on his arm, explained his cast had slipped which caused him to lose control.
When Yellowknifer asked RCMP for details on the incident, police responded Tuesday in an e-mail stating they "couldn't find any files on Sunday that reflect this."
