Alcohol, distracted driving and speed are suspected in a single-vehicle crash involving a flatbed truck that veered off the road, shearing off a power pole and landing in a ditch along 232 Street Monday morning.
The crash shut down a section of the road for more than six hours.
According to Langley RCMP Sgt. Alex Mulvihill, the driver, a 50-year-old Surrey man, had been the subject of calls to police earlier that morning.
“Around 7:35 a.m., we received complaints about an erratic driver in Langley City,” said Mulvihill.
Then at 8:15 a.m., the flat bed truck, which was carrying a small load of cement bags, went off the road in the 6800 block of 232 Street. The truck, suspected of travelling at a high rate of speed, hit a ditch and took out a hydro pole, shearing it in half, leaving live wires hanging precariously near the vehicle that was lying on its side.
Several witnesses pulled over and attempted to free the driver who was trapped inside beneath the dangling live wires.
“If I could caution the public to keep their own safety in mind when wanting to help,” Mulvihill said. “If that truck shifted, those wires would have come down and electrocuted someone. I get wanting to help, but BC Hydro deemed that situation as a level one. Sometimes it is safer to call 911 and wait for emergency help.”
Hydro cut the power to the lines and then cut away the lines from the truck before firefighters were able to rescue the driver from the vehicle. He wasn’t injured in the crash. The driver was handed several violation tickets, said Mulvihill.
BC Hydro put in a new power pole and a large tow truck was called in to remove the flatbed truck.
Power in the area was out for some time.