Wind ‘major factor’ in BC truck crash caught on camera: Police

Wind was a “major factor” in a crash caught on camera on BC’s Trans-Canada Highway Monday, according to authorities.

RCMP highway patrol officers were called to Highway 1 in Chilliwack around 1 p.m. for reports that a transport truck had “collapsed in the middle of the median,” spokesman Cpl. Michael McLaughlin said in an email to CTV News, adding that the driver, who was the only person in the truck, was not injured.

Video posted on social media shows the truck driving along the busy route, flipping onto its side – narrowly missing another car – before careening into the median.

Police say no other vehicles were affected.

“Our investigation shows that the weather, and particularly the wind, was a major factor in the loss of control of the semi-trailer,” McLaughlin wrote.

“As a result, the driver does not face any charges under the Motor Vehicles Act.”

The accident occurred in the middle of a wind storm that toppled trees and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers on BC’s South Coast. According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, gusts in Chilliwack reached 85 km/h. The strongest winds were recorded on Vancouver Island, where they exceeded 100 km/h in some locations.