A dump truck flipped on its side in Sapperton earlier today – at the same intersection where another dump truck crashed on Tuesday.
New Westminster Police Department Sgt. Andrew Leaver said police responded to a report of a dump truck that had rolled over near the intersection of East Columbia and Holmes streets around 10:30 a.m. today.
“A dump truck entered the intersection at East Columbia Street from Holmes Street, struck a passenger vehicle, and rolled over,” he said in an email to the Record. “Our Traffic Unit and Commercial Vehicle Safety Unit attended the scene and are working to determine the cause of the crash. Only minor injuries were sustained.”
As of 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 16, road closures continued. Police say the dump truck has been removed, but city crews were still conducting maintenance in the area.
“We all have to do our part to keep our roads safe,” Leaver said. “We would encourage all commercial truck drivers to do their pre-trip inspections, make sure their loads are secure, and familiarize themselves with approved routes.”
Photographs taken at the scene showed a dump truck flipped on its side on East Columbia Street and a car with a smashed front end.
Traffic reports indicated that East Columbia Street was closed to traffic because of the flipped vehicle and the need for repairs to the traffic light.
Today’s incident comes less than 48 hours after a dump truck incident sent several people to hospital with minor injuries Tuesday afternoon.
Following the May 14 incident, emergency officials told the Record a dump truck travelling down Holmes Street went into oncoming traffic on East Columbia Street. Officials said it struck a pole and collided with another vehicle, with several vehicles ultimately being involved in that traffic incident.
Mike Anderson, the city’s manager of transportation, said the city is in the process of gathering information about these incidents from its colleagues at the police department. In and email to the Record, he said the city doesn’t yet have information on ownership of the trucks involved or where they originated.
“We will be discussing these incidents further with the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement section at NWPD, as some additional monitoring and enforcement of truck activity in that area may be warranted,” he said. “We are also reviewing truck-related signage in the area to determine if sufficient information is being provided to truck drivers in both New Westminster and Burnaby.”
Anderson said the City of New Westminster will be contacting their colleagues in Burnaby about possible gaps in truck route signage in the area.
While police say this week’s two incidents resulted in minor injuries, a man was killed at this same location in April 2011. The driver of a cement truck hit a car at East Columbia and Holmes streets, sending a car through the barrier and down a steep drop-off into Lower Hume Park – killing its driver, who was on his way to pick up his wife and infant son for a doctor’s appointment.
