Humboldt

Training? What Training?

Fault has not yet been assigned in the stunningly horrible crash that stole the lives of 16 Humboldt Broncos hockey club members and, while I have ideas, I won't engage in conjecture as to what went wrong on April 6. Inevitably the discussion has turned to driver training and the shameful fact that only Ontario has made it mandatory, though not until last year. The public is outraged, and I can't blame them. Many driving instructors are also angry about the reality of inadequate training. They're right to be critical. Hell, it wasn't so long ago that you could take the road test for your Ontario class A licence with a pickup truck pulling a fifth-wheel horse trailer out back. Ludicrous.

Drivers ‘deserve to be trained’, says BC widow calling for nation-wide standards

FALKLAND, B.C. – Pattie Babij is on a mission to make new driver training mandatory nation-wide. It’s been a difficult year for Babij. A little more than 12 months ago her husband Steve was driving his truck near Revelstoke, B.C. when another semi crossed the median and hit him head on – neither he nor the couple’s dog Zak survived the crash. To add to the grief, she’s being forced to sell her dairy farm because she’s unable to run it without her husband’s help.

Mandatory training won’t fix everything, but it will help

The chorus calling for improved and mandatory training for truck drivers is growing louder as the days pass following the Humboldt, Sask. truck/bus crash. We still don't know the official cause of that crash, or what role driver training -- or the lack thereof -- played in the incident. I'm not inclined to believe it was a primary factor. I think what is playing in most peoples' minds is the driver's reported lack of experience.

Adesh Deol Trucking remains grounded

EDMONTON, Alta. – The company that owns the truck involved in a fatal truck-bus crash in Humboldt, Sask., remains grounded by Alberta Transportation as a police investigation continues. Calgary-based Adesh Deol Trucking has just one other truck, but its safety fitness certificate was suspended following the April 6 collision that killed 16. “Alberta Transportation’s investigation of the commercial carrier involved in the Humboldt incident is ongoing,” said a ministry spokesman, although an assessment of National Safety Code (NSC) compliance has concluded.

Updated: Charities hit Truck World for a good cause

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Maxine Shantz says all it took was one year of volunteering with the Special Olympics Convoy and she was hooked. The Home Hardware employee took on tasks with the GTA branch of the project six years ago and has been more involved every year since. Including spending a day in the charity’s Truck World booth recruiting drivers, selling raffle tickets to raise money for the cause, and raising awareness. Shantz says the booth at the biennial convention brings good exposure to the cause, forming a sense of community for drivers around the event and shines a light on the good things drivers do in a climate where they are often portrayed in the media as the bad guys after incidents on the road.

‘Dear Sask. truck driver’ shows support for trucker in Humboldt crash

HUMBOLDT, Sask. – “Dear Saskatchewan Truck Driver.” So begins a note penned to the driver of the truck involved in a tragic collision that took the lives of 15 people in rural Saskatchewan, April 6. The truck collided with a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos, a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team on their way to a playoff game in Nipawin, Sask., killing 15 passengers and sending 14 more to hospital with injuries. The truck driver was briefly detained at the scene but walked away with no reported physical injuries. The letter offering support