Oblivious truck driver forces car onto the shoulder of the road

Transport truck drivers have difficult jobs and they do a great job of transporting vital goods across the continent. Many of us would not have food on our tables or clothes to wear without them. But occasionally, they make mistakes that have disastrous consequences. Driving such huge rigs, there is little room for error and a collision with a small car can be deadly.

This truck driver approached an intersection of a private drive where it meets a roadway. The law in this province is clear that drivers approaching a roadway from a private road, drive, or parking lot must first ensure that it is safe to enter the roadway. If their actions affect vehicles traveling on the roadway, they must stop or yield. Simply put, the vehicles on the roadway have the right of way in all cases. Otherwise, traffic moving on a highway would have to stop at driveways. Sometimes there is a traffic control sign such as a stop or yield sign. But even when no such sign is posted, the driver knows he must yield.

For whatever reason, this big rig driver didn't seem to see the car coming. He rounded the corner, turning left onto the roadway without stopping. The driver of the oncoming car was aware at the last second that he needed to take action and he pulled onto the shoulder of the road to avoid a collision and a certain disaster. Although the driver comments that there was a stop sign, the footage suggests that no sign is visible. That does not change who has the right of way.

After passing by the truck, the car driver reached his destination and turned to pull over on the shoulder. As he did so, the truck driver rounded the corner and saw that the car had stopped. The two drivers made eye contact and, in true Canadian fashion, the truck driver waved apologetically. The car driver returned this gesture with a nod and an ok sign and the interaction was over. With no hard feelings, both will go on about their day without an angry confrontation. Mistakes happen and nobody needs more than an acknowledgement to understand that everybody agreed what happened here.

Both of these drivers will remember this close call on future trips.