An Alberta driver has been sentenced more than two years after a crash that destroyed a tow truck and Mercedes.
Dalvir Singh Jhattu, 38, was sentenced April 8 to a six-month conditional sentence order, 90 days of house arrest, a 12-month Canada-wide driving ban and conditions that include no possession or consumption of alcohol, drugs or intoxicating substances, according to a release from B.C. Highway Patrol Monday (April 20).
He was previously found guilty of dangerous driving.
The crash happened on Dec. 8, 2023 when a B.C. Highway Patrol officer was working with a tow-truck operator to impound a Mercedes for excessive speeding on Highway 1, just west of Field in Yoho National Park. The tow truck had its amber flashing lights on to warn drivers to slow down and move over.
However, just after 9:30 p.m., Jhattu was driving the highway and ignored the flashing lights and drove his eastbound tractor trailer straight up the back of the tow truck, destroying the tow truck, the tractor trailer, and the Mercedes.
“Luckily the tow truck operator, the police officer, and the Mercedes driver were safely off to the side of the road, or they would certainly have been killed,” Cpl. Michael McLaughlin said.
“The tractor-trailer driver could easily have died as his truck rolled over and he became trapped.”
Police released dash-camera footage of the crash Monday to “illustrate the consequences when drivers do not ‘Slow Down and Move Over’ in the presence of flashing amber or blue and red lights.”
B.C. Highway Patrol says the “Slow Down, Move Over law” is meant to avoid these crashes.
When there are flashing amber or blue and red lights, the law requires drivers to: slow down to under 70 km/h when the speed limit is over 80 km/h; and move to the farthest safe and legal driving lane away from the flashing lights and emergency responders.
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