Calls for even stiffer fines, infrastructure upgrades after latest B.C. overpass strike

The latest crash happened around noon Thursday, when a driver struck the 112 Street overpass on Highway 99, blocking southbound traffic for the rest of the day.

The B.C. government is facing calls for even stiffer penalties, infrastructure upgrades and more driver training, in the wake of yet another collision between a commercial vehicle and an overpass.

The latest crash happened around noon Thursday, when a driver with Chohan Freight Forwarders struck the 112 Street overpass on Highway 99, blocking southbound traffic for the rest of the day.

It was the sixth overpass strike in the last two years for the company, prompting the province to ground its fleet by suspending its safety certificate while it investigates. The company said the driver had been fired and its other drivers recalled for mandatory safety training.

The province announced a suite of measures intended to crack down on overpass strikes earlier this month. Those include technological requirements, including speed limiters and warnings and escalating penalties for companies with repeat infractions, like the certificate suspension. They also include raising the maximum fine for over-height vehicle violations from $115 to $575.

But the province is facing pressure to go further.

“The government has been there for seven years, it’s not like this is the first time it’s happened. It has been multiple events over the last number of years, where clearly the problem is getting worse,” BC United Official Opposition Leader Kevin Falcon said.

“Make sure the fines are so painful that the cost of doing business and operating in that manner is so unpalatable that they will obey the laws, just because they cannot afford the kind of fines we would issue.”

Delta City Coun. Dylan Kruger also called for the province to massively escalate financial penalties, saying a $575 fine amounts to a “drop in the bucket” and the “cost of doing business.”