Nine vehicles were damaged when a semi-truck with two flat-deck trailers drove off QEII, over the merge lane, into a ditch and up an embankment on the afternoon of May 9.
The vehicles damaged had no passengers as they were on display behind Palliser Chevrolet Ltd., just a bit south after the north Innisfail overpass.
Const. Chris Warren with the Innisfail Integrated Traffic Unit said the incident occurred at about 1:30 p.m.
The semi went under the overpass, Warren said, and “shortly thereafter the vehicle lost control.”
The driver was an adult male from Manitoba. Warren said he was transported to hospital by ambulance to be treated for minor injuries.
“We don't believe alcohol or drugs were a factor,” Warren said. He said the matter is still under investigation but it's possible an unknown medical condition was part of what happened.
Warren said the damage is estimated to be about $250,000. A light post was part of the property damage to the area.
James O'Dwyer, the general manager of the dealership, said none of the staff saw the crash happen but workers in the shop heard a noise “like thunder.” One of the technicians was the person who called the ambulance.
He confirmed nine vehicles were damaged and said there had been 12 to13 vehicles parked out on their back property facing the highway.
“We got lots of scrap metal,” O'Dwyer said. He said the insurance adjuster hasn't determined if all the damaged vehicles will be written off yet.
“We really are just happy no one got hurt,” O'Dwyer said.
Chemicals like engine coolant ended up on the ground as a result of the vehicles' front ends being affected in the crash, he said.
Vehicles have been parked on Palliser's back property to showcase their products to passing QEII traffic for a long time, O'Dwyer said. Nothing like the collision on May 9 has happened before.
O'Dwyer said he doesn't anticipate that practice changing.
“We don't anticipate something like (May 9's collision) happening,” O'Dwyer said.
