Calgary woman's vehicle sprayed by passing gravel truck
A Calgary woman is sharing her story in the hopes of bringing more oversight and accountability to gravel truck operators and the dangers caused by improperly secured loads.
Kaeleigh Kaufman said she was traveling home last Thursday, heading west on 144th Ave N.W. when moments after passing a gravel truck heading the opposite direction she heard a loud smack on the top of her windshield, “I am sprayed with tiny shards of glass. I feel them going all across my face, and I can hear them tinkle on my glasses.” Kaufman said.
Calgary woman's vehicle after getting sprayed by gravel
After realizing what happened and regaining her composure, Kaufman turned around to follow the truck driver and confronted him at a nearby intersection. "I looked into his driver's side window, which was open and I said, you just smashed my window. And he looked at me and he laughed and he said good luck with that and he drove off."
"That was worse than being hit by the rock," Kaufman said.
Kaufman has no doubt that a rock had fallen from the top of the truck-trailer and that is what caused the damage to her windshield, so she set off to try to find someway to make it right."“First thing I did was I came home and I thought you know what, this is not right. This is not only creating damage, it's dangerous to Alberta drivers."
Kaufman told CTV News in an interview that after filing a report with police and being told there was nothing they could do without the trucks license plate identification - she only had the trailer plate information - she has since spent a lot of time reaching out to various transportation agencies and even to the trucking company she believes is responsible for the incident.
A gravel truck like this one sprayed a woman's vehicle on Thursday, June 3, 2021
A properly tarped gravel truck spotted on Calgary streets on June 9.
All of those roads led her to the same realization; while there are federal and provincial laws mandating the security of any loaded truck and trailer, according to what Kaufman was told the enforcement and follow up to these rules just aren’t there. "This is a situation that needs attention, real attention," Kaufman said. "It needs a close look at better enforcement of load size, of securement, of municipal development requirements, such as brushing off trucks before they drive on a gravel pit."
Kaufman believes this whole situation has to be shaken up, "Just like the load on a truck when it's gearing up to speed up and driven down the road. It has to be shaken up for the safety of Albertans."
Damage from getting sprayed by a gravel truck, June 3, 2021
For Kaufman, this is no longer about the cost of the repairs to her windshield, it's about protecting others,
"More than everything more than anything, I would like to ensure the safety of Alberta drivers, kids, moms, seniors," she said. "We need to be assured of our safety on Alberta roads, and that's not happening."
CTV News has reached out to Alberta Transportation for comment and has not yet received a reply.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Feds 'not interested' in investing in LNG facilities: energy minister
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the federal government is 'not interested' in subsidizing future liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, including the electrification of projects currently in the works.
Chants of 'shame on you' greet guests arriving for the annual White House correspondents' dinner
An election-year roast of U.S. President Joe Biden before journalists, celebrities and politicians at the annual White House correspondents' dinner Saturday.
Global measles cases nearly doubled in one year, researchers say
The number of measles cases around the world nearly doubled from 2022 to 2023, researchers say, presenting a challenge to efforts to achieve and maintain elimination status in many countries.
Fair share: the right office solution can take finding the right partner
The rise of remote and hybrid work has made it harder to justify a full office, so more are leaning on co-working spaces that they share with many others for convenience and cost savings. The choice, however, comes at the expense of privacy and control.
What Trudeau's podcast appearances say about the Liberals' next ballot box question
Trudeau recently appeared on four podcasts as he travels the country talking up the Liberals' latest budget, which he's pitching as a plan to inject more economic fairness into society for those under 40 — a cohort that has kept Trudeau in power since 2015 but is increasingly turning to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Deadly six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 sparked by road rage incident
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
California Disney characters are unionizing decades after Florida peers. Hollywood plays a role
California performers are organizing to be represented by a union now, more than four decades after their Florida counterparts did so.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
What is a 'halal mortgage'? Does it make housing more accessible?
The 2024 federal budget announced on April 16 included plans to introduce “halal mortgages” as a way to increase access to home ownership.