The BC Forest Safety Council notifies the forest industry of a serious incident that resulted in the death of a member of the public.
On November 7th, a rock fell from a loaded logging truck and smashed through the windshield of an oncoming pickup truck. The rock hit the driver of the pickup and caused fatal injuries. This incident happened on Highway 18 near the community of Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island.
Witnesses report the rock fell onto the highway, broke into pieces and a chunk the size of a brick bounced up and hit the pickup truck travelling the other way.
The log truck driver did not stop after the incident and it is likely the driver wasn’t even aware that the incident occurred. The RCMP and the BC Coroners Service are continuing to investigate this incident.
This is the second fatality in a month caused by rocks falling from trucks. In October, a fatality was caused near Cranbrook when a rock was thrown from a transport truck and went through the windshield of a vehicle.
We recommend that all loader operators, log truck drivers and their supervisors pause to review their operations and take the necessary steps to prevent similar incidents.
File attachments |
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BCFSC 2012-11-07 Fatality Alert.pdf |