The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
On Monday January 5, an empty truck and tanker, that missed the stop sign at the junction of Highway 39 and Provincial Road 392 near Snow Lake, slid partially into the ditch and blocked the highway there for a short period of time. In a brief statement released to the press, Corporal Bob MacKnight of the Snow Lake RCMP Detachment stated that the tanker and pup arrived in Snow Lake for a delivery at approximately 1:00 a.m. on the 5th. After the driver completed his delivery, he slept and departed Snow Lake at around 8:30 a.m. on the 6th. "Upon approaching the junction, the driver claimed that he was blinded by the morning sun," said MacKnight. "Which is quite possible." "When he realized that the junction was approaching, he fully engaged the brakes, which caused the unit to stall." MacKnight advised that the tanker skidded through the intersection, with the tractor and main trailer staying on the road and the pup sliding to the right and into the ditch. This caused the unit to become stuck and fully blocked traffic approaching from both directions on PTH 39. "Fortunately, there was no traffic on 39 at the time," noted the officer. "Highways Foreman, Richard Weir, arrived on the scene, shortly after the incident occurred and arranged for a grader to remove the stranded vehicle." The Corporal concluded that as the RCMP did not learn of the incident until the next day, an investigation has been conducted and with the assistance of the trucking company, the driver was identified. "Considering that the driver had been to Snow Lake previously and was familiar with the road and also the fact that there is a warning sign posted advising of an upcoming stop, the driver is being charged under the Highway Traffic Act with Imprudent Driving," said MacKnight.
