On May 25, around 10 a.m., I was stopped at the Alberni highway red light waiting to turn left onto Highway 19a in Parksville.
When my light turned green I was about to drive on when a very large, very long, green flatbed truck, loaded with old tires, slowed at his red light and I thought was going to stop. Instead, he carried on and turned left on to the Alberni Highway in front of me. That is a very narrow turn, not helped by the large bump-out curb on the corner.
Fortunately, I had not moved very far or fast into the intersection. I honked my horn to alert the driver, but there was no way he could have reversed a rig of that size, so I sat petrified hoping he was skilled enough to manoeuvre the narrow turn and not hit me.
Had he done so, he could have killed me, perhaps himself, and possibly the occupants of the cars behind and beside me. Not to mention that there is a gas station on the corner there which might have caused a fire hazard in the event of a serious accident.
The trucking company that might recognize the description could consider checking their manifest to see who was driving at that hour on that day and route, and have him re-take some tests, including one for colour-blindness. He obviously doesn’t know his red from his green.
Joanne ChiperaParksville