The Canadian Press
Ryan McKenna
REGINA–A consulting firm says sight lines are a safety concern at the rural intersection where the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash happened back in April.
A 70-page safety review done for the Saskatchewan government and released yesterday said a stand of trees, mostly on private property, obstructs the view of drivers approaching from the south and east–the same directions the bus and semi-trailer were coming from when they collided.
Negotiating with the landowner to remove the trees is one of 13 recommendations included in the report.
The province said painting “Stop” and “Stop Ahead” on the road, as suggested in the review, was done this week and there are plans to add rumble strips next year.
Chris Joseph, a former NHL’er whose son, Jaxon, died in the crash, said all of the recommendations are good.
“We definitely want to make the roads safer,” Joseph said. “I mean, that’s pretty much all we’ve got, right?
“We lost our son and we’re just hoping to avoid future accidents like that.”
Sixteen people died and 13 others were injured in the collision at the intersection north of Tisdale on April 6.
The bus was travelling north on Highway 35 while the semi was westbound on Highway 335. Both roads have speed limits of 100 km/h.
Highway 335 has a stop sign. Highway 35 does not.
The RCMP have charged the truck’s driver, Jaskirat Sidhu, with 16 counts of dangerous driving causing death and 13 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily injury.
His next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.
Joseph said rumble strips would slow drivers down and he thinks better sight lines would have allowed bus driver Glen Doerksen more of an opportunity to see the truck.
“There’s no question the trees would have helped,” Joseph said.
The government cut down some of the trees in October but most of them are on private property.
Fred Antunes, deputy minister with the province’s Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure, said there will be further discussions about the trees with the landowner.
But Ian Boxall, deputy reeve of the Rural Municipality of Connaught, said he takes issue with asking people to cut down trees on their private property.
“If you follow the rules of the road and stop at the stop sign, the trees aren’t an issue,” he reasoned.
