Drivers put in danger

Photo: Jackson Stoski

A huge boulder landed on a car Tuesday and one driver is wondering why vehicles were allowed to drive past an active slide.

Grant Wilson feels motorists were put in unnecessary danger during a rock slide event near Three Valley Gap Tuesday.

Wilson drives a tractor trailer every day between Vernon and Revelstoke and passed through the slide area shortly before a car was clobbered by a large boulder.

The jaws of life had to be used to free the woman and Wilson wonders why traffic was allowed to go through while debris was actively falling onto the highway.

Wilson said when he approached the slide area eastbound on Highway 1 prior to the woman getting hit by the rock, a Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure official was telling drivers to slow down, but was not stopping traffic.

As he passed the slide area, Wilson noticed a red truck parked on the side of the road with a large dent in the hood.

“There was still debris coming,” said Wilson, adding some of the rocks were around the size of a baseball and could have done plenty of damage. “I was shocked they were allowing people to go through. There was definitely a (MOTI) vehicle on scene. He was getting us to slow down, but he wasn't stopping us.”

A couple of hours later, Wilson was returning to Vernon westbound on Highway 1 and traffic had been stopped.

“It was after the woman got hit,” he said.

Castanet has contacted a media relations official with the MOTI asking about the incident and protocol in regards to closing a road, but has yet to receive a response.