Vancouver, British Columbia — July 1, 2015 — Highway Thru Hell’s Jamie Davis is pushing for stronger highway regulations in the wake of a major collision on the province’s Coquihalla.
The owner of Motor Truck & Auto Ltd. said the June 27 crash—injuring over three dozen people after a Universal Coach Lines bus slammed into a tow truck mid-recovery—was an accident waiting to happen. He told CTV News that there should have been a flagger with the tow truck.
“There should have a been some warning to this bus driver,” Davis said in the report. “If a tow company’s attending, flagging is more important than towing the car. Safety is more important.”
The Highway Thru Hell star is calling on the province to adopt the protocol in other jurisdictions, mandating a flagger be present when portions of a highway are blocked.
He says he brought the issue to B.C. Transportion Minister Todd Stone and local officials earlier this year, but his actions yielded no response. Davis says more accidents are inevitable if regulations aren’t put in place.
In a June 28 statement, The Ministry of Transportation announced Universal Coach Lines and its company’s drivers are currently under review and will be audited by the province.
“An audit is standard for operators involved in this type of incident,” the company said in the statement.
The RCMP’s investigation into the accident and the actions of the bus driver is ongoing.
Most of the victims of the crash were released from hospital the morning of June 28. The bus driver and Mario’s Towing operator sustained serious injuries and remain in recovery.
