Commercial vehicles have struck B.C. overpasses 9 times in the last year

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There’s a new trend picking up steam and dropping bits of concrete in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley: driving oversized commercial vehicles into the underside of overpasses. 

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Commercial vehicles have struck B.C. overpasses 9 times in the last year Back to video

Police responded to the most recent overpass fail last Thursday after a vehicle carrying a piece of heavy equipment struck the 112 Street overpass on Highway 99 in Delta, damaging the machinery and infrastructure, and delaying traffic. And according to the Ministry of Transportation, this is the ninth time accidents involving too-tall commercial vehicles and Southern B.C. highway underpasses have occurred in the last 12 months. 

Traffic was halted for a number of hours earlier this week when a truck ran into the 4.46-metre Glover Road overpass on Highway 1 in Langley. And just last week a dump truck — pulling a flatbed trailer loaded with an excavator — topped out beneath the 192nd Street overpass on Highway 1 in Surrey, injuring an SUV driver and damaging multiple other vehicles. 

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Repairs for another collision that took place on the 232nd Street overpass in June, meanwhile, are estimated to cost $1 million. 

The B.C. the Ministry of Transportation says it has “increased its Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement patrols with an emphasis on enforcing height restrictions,” meaning there will now be more inspectors out looking for vehicles carrying loads that don’t measure up to the roads they’re operating on. 

“Overall, we find that the trucking industry is extremely professional and safety conscious. However, there are some who fail to take the proper precautions with loads that may be potentially overheight,” the government faction wrote in a statement. 

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In an further attempt to provide “greater accountability for carriers regarding the safety of our roads and drivers in British Columbia,” the Ministry has also published a list of “carriers canceled for cause” made up of those companies that have received unsatisfactory safety ratings under section 118.96 (2)(a) of the Motor Vehicle Act. 

Operators found to be in contradiction of over-height limits may be subject to a $115 fine, a small price to pay compared to the sometimes seven-figure repair bills that can be caused by such infractions. 

The province has also upped its minimum build height for all infrastructure to five metres.