Editor:
My family and I were driving east from Smithers on Jan. 29, 2013. We were returning to our home in the Burns Lake area after my wife was released from the hospital following surgery.
We left in the early afternoon and about 20 minutes into our trip, just east of Telkwa, we came around a corner and were pelted in a cloud of gravel from two snow/gravel trucks travelling at a high rate of speed westbound. The blade on the first truck was down and on the center line
I had to instantly force our van into the soft snow on the shoulder. Coming around the corner, there was no way I could have seen the two vehicles heading west and travelling so closely together. Our windshield was hit in three spots with a crack migrating out from one of them.
The drivers of those trucks were travelling at a dangerous speed with gravel flying into oncoming traffic, putting myself and my family at risk.
The response from the B.C. Ministry of Transportation (MOT) and infrastructure is that all responsibility is solely with private contractors. The ministry’s interest appears to be limited to liability (money issues) and not public road safety.
My family and I now refuse to drive to Smithers during our long winter season.
In fact, we cancelled the follow-up check up for my wife after surgery with concern for our safety and further damage to our vehicle.
Leonard Matte
