
Changes coming to make ferries more difficult to accidentally drive off
CBC
Adjustments will be made to river ferries over the coming months to make it more difficult for people to drive off them when the ramps are up.
Those changes were already planned when a 40-year-old Nauwigewauk man drove his vehicle off an out-of-service ferry on the Kingston Peninsula side of the Gondola Point ferry.
Mark Taylor, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation, said those changes will be made over the coming months and include making ramps steeper.
"It's not as simple as adjusting your side mirrors," explained Taylor. "It takes some mechanical work."
Those changes will be made as individual ferries are taken off their runs for regular maintenance in the next few months.
The driver and lone occupant of a vehicle that went off the Gondola Point ferry and into the Kennebecasis River on Saturday night was identified Monday as a 40-year-old man from Nauwigewauk, northeast of Saint John. His name was not released.
In a news release, the RCMP said a vehicle was seen going "through a barricade and onto a non-operational ferry docked at the Gondola Point ferry terminal" in Clifton Royal.
Shortly after, the vehicle went off the ferry ramp and into the river, said the release, which did not get into detail about the "barricade."
On Sunday, the RCMP's underwater recovery team located and recovered the vehicle, and the body of a man inside.
An autopsy is being conducted to determine the exact cause of death, the RCMP release stated.
Taylor said the ferry involved had been operational the day before but was taken out of service because of the strike by some government workers, including ferry workers who belong to a CUPE local.
When a ferry is off its run, signs are erected on the landing, and the ramp on the water side of the ferry is left up, explained Taylor.
"It's extremely difficult to manoeuvre around those safety measures," he said.
On Tuesday, the RCMP referred all calls to an officer in Sussex, who did not respond by publication time.

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