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Semi truck driver fined for close call caught on dash cam

March 2017 incident took place on Trans-Canada Highway east of Salmon Arm
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A screenshot from the dash cam video showing a dangerous pass on the Trans-Canada near Canoe. (Jonah Jones/Facebook)

A semi driver involved in a near miss on Highway 1 in March 2017 has been fined after attempting to dispute a charge for failing to pass safely.

The charge resulted from a March 8 incident, in which the semi driver’s truck began overtaking another tractor-trailer unit using the passing lane near the Cal-Van motel in Canoe, just east of Salmon Arm. According to the RCMP, the semi driver failed to complete the pass before the end of the passing lane and crossed the centre line into eastbound traffic.

The driver of an eastbound vehicle had to take evasive action, quickly steering onto the shoulder of the highway to avoid the oncoming big rig. Behind the wheel of the eastbound vehicle was Jonah Jones, whose dash cam recorded the incident.

Related: UPDATE: Too close of a call

“Some people who drive that road aren’t driving to conditions, but there are also factors of road design, vehicle design and speed is always a factor, but very rarely is speed the reason someone has an accident and yesterday’s incident could have happened at 20 miles an hour or 50 miles an hour, the guy made a bad judgment call,” Jones told the Observer at the time of the incident.

Jones’ dash cam clip was posted to Facebook and received a lot of public attention in the Shuswap.

The Salmon Arm RCMP investigated the incident and the driver received a ticket under the motor vehicle act for failing to complete the pass safely. The driver disputed the ticket and the matter was heard in Salmon Arm Traffic Court on Jan. 10 2019. The driver was convicted and fined $500.


@SalmonArm
jim.elliot@saobserver.net

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Jim Elliot

About the Author: Jim Elliot

I’m a B.C. transplant here in Whitehorse at The News telling stories about the Yukon's people, environment, and culture.
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