Image credit: (Kathy Braaten/Contributed)

By Aaron Schulze

Highway 5 Near Miss

‘I don’t even know how they get a license’: near miss involving semi-truck near Clearwater under investigation

Jun 4, 2023 | 2:35 PM

CLEARWATER, B.C. — A close call involving a commercial truck driver near Clearwater Friday (June 2) at around 7 p.m. is under investigation.

Dash camera footage captured by Kathy Braaten, a long-time Clearwater resident, and her husband shows a semi-truck crossing double solid yellow lines to pass another semi on Highway 5 near the Ministry of Forests office south of Clearwater.

Braaten told CFJC Today she credits her husband – a driver for BC Ambulance – for quickly pulling over as far as he could to the side of the Yellowhead Highway, slowing down and waiting for the semi to get through.

“It happened so fast, but it was very scary,” Braaten says. “My biggest worry is what if this was someone who had no experience? A new driver or a learner out there with a parent.”

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Calls for safety improvements on the Yellowhead Highway near Barriere and Clearwater have been under a microscope in 2023 after numerous fatal accidents. For Braaten, she’s not only noticed an increase of traffic, but also drivers who are not being cautions and not following the rules on Highway 5.

Braaten believes improving safety on the Yellowhead Highway needs to come from enforcement by police, more specific roadway rules set by the provincial government and better training from trucking companies. It’s why she sent her dash camera footage to Clearwater Mayor Merlin Blackwell, which has since gone up to B.C.’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.

“It really bothers me. If that’s how a commercial driver is going to drive, I don’t even know how they get a license,” Braaten says. “I wish everybody was more careful. Everybody wants to get to where they’re going and be safe too. I felt it was important for people to see what they’re dealing with out there.”

In an email to CFJC Today Sunday, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says the Commercial Vehicle and Safety Enforcement is trying to determine the driver of the semi-truck.

“Enforcement actions against commercial carriers depend on the results of the investigation and can include suspension or cancellation of the carrier’s National Safety Code safety certificate,” the ministry states.