OLDS – A Calgary woman driving on the storm-swept Highway 2 on Wednesday afternoon remains traumatized after a motorist in a pickup truck crashed into her near the Olds overpass and then fled the scene.
The woman’s vehicle, a 2012 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck, is now considered a write-off, and the stricken Calgarian is grateful to be still alive from the hair-raising March 20 collision.
“But for the grace of God it is a wonder I was able to walk away from this. I seriously thought I was a goner,” said Sheryl Knock, a retired 50-year-old oil and gas administrator. “I have three children and I thought of them, and I thought I was gone.”
Knock is now offering a $25,000 reward to anyone who provides information that will lead police to the hit and run driver who crashed into her vehicle near the Olds overpass.
“I'm not sure what their circumstances were,” said Knock. “Everybody's got a story. They had an emergency, or couldn't stop? It’s just very upsetting.”
Olds RCMP Sgt. Randy Poon confirmed to the Albertan that his detachment now has an active hit and run investigation to find the motorist who crashed into Knock and then fled the scene.
“Usually for a hit and run we'll get as best description as we can, and then continue the investigation,” said Poon. “The (RCMP) member was able to locate (Knock) with someone on the other side of the highway. Apparently the driver took off.
“She was inside the vehicle. The weather would have been starting to get bad around that time,” added Poon. “The unfortunate thing is we don't have a (licence) plate to go with. But it is still an active investigation.”
The area was under an active snowfall warning Wednesday and the highway was reported as being icy and snow covered.
Acting Sgt. Eric Ponton, Innisfail unit commander for Alberta RCMP Traffic, said his police officers were dispatched on March 20 to about 30 collisions throughout their Highway 2 jurisdiction that stretches from Highway 11A on the north side of Red Deer and then south to Highway 582, east of Didsbury.
From the Highway 590 intersection at Innisfail to Highway 582 Ponton said his team responded to 22 collisions.
Knock told the Albertan she was driving on Highway 2 on March 20 to give her daughter’s financially-challenged young friend a badly needed ride to a healing lodge in St. Albert, despite the inclement weather.
“I had dropped him off and I was on my way home,” said Knock.
And as she drove southbound on the freeway and passed the Olds overpass shortly after 6 p.m., there was a sudden violent collision against her vehicle’s passenger-side door.
“I had not seen him. I believe he was coming off the overpass. It was a red pickup truck and it was hauling a big cargo trailer, like a landscaping trailer or something. It was covered, and that was red too,” said Knock. “It lost control on the highway and his truck started going sideways. It hit me and sent me into the ditch. I took out about 60 feet of the (wire) barrier in the median.
“The trailer and the truck was jack-knifed on the highway,” she added. “And then it straightened out and left the scene.”
With her motor vehicle extensively damaged Knock was dazed and unable to immediately comprehend what had just happened on the freeway amidst the ongoing spring snow storm.
“The snow came up into my windshield and I had no vision on anything. When the truck came to a stop I didn’t know if I was knocked unconscious or what,” said Knock.
“It was 15 minutes between the collision and when police were called. There was a witness there who stopped and phoned police first.”
When the Albertan contacted Knock 36 hours after the crash she admitted she was still in shock.
Knock said she’s still suffering from headaches and sensitivity to light.
“I've been in a few accidents in my life, so this has aggravated old injuries,” she said. “And obviously, I’m very upset they (hit and run driver) left me and had no regard for my safety.”
Anyone with information on the identity and location of the hit and run driver can email Knock at [email protected] Citizens can also contact the Olds RCMP at 403-556-3324.
