B.C. suspends 2 companies involved in recent overpass strikes
Two companies that were allegedly involved in overpass strikes in B.C.'s Lower Mainland this week have been suspended pending separate investigations into what happened.
The government identified the companies as Inline Propagators Ltd. and Railport Transport Ltd.
Inline Propagators was suspended after a cube truck struck a pedestrian overpass in Stanley Park on Monday, while Railport Transport was suspended after a semi struck the Rice Mill Road overpass near the George Massey Tunnel on Tuesday.
The crashes are being investigated by the Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement branch.
According to the B.C. government website, there have been eight overpass strikes reported so far this year alone. The investigations into five have been completed, with each ultimately being blamed on driver or carrier error.
The report on one such accident, which took place on Jan. 2 along Highway 1, indicates the driver "failed to follow (the) permitted route." A different driver involved in a Jan. 15 crash along the same highway measured the vehicle "incorrectly" prior to obtaining a permit.
In two of the incidents, the driver or carrier involved had no permit at all.
Earlier this month, B.C. officials introduced stiffer penalties for drivers found responsible for damaging provincial infrastructure – including fines of up to $100,000 and imprisonment for up to 18 months, or both.
Those penalties would only apply to drivers who are charged and convicted in court, and would be at the discretion of the judge.
The B.C. government previously confirmed the pedestrian overpass in Stanley Park that was struck this week is not provincial property.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'oesn't get' the global phenomenom.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Tornadoes collapse buildings and level homes in Nebraska and Iowa
Tornadoes wreaked havoc Friday in the Midwest, causing a building to collapse with dozens of people inside and destroying and damaging hundreds of homes, many around Omaha, Neb.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
It's 30 years since apartheid ended. South Africa's celebrations are set against growing discontent
South Africa marked 30 years since the end of apartheid and the birth of its democracy with a ceremony in the capital Saturday that included a 21-gun salute and the waving of the nation's multicolored flag.
Britney Spears settles long-running legal dispute with estranged father, finally bringing ultimate end to conservatorship
Britney Spears has reached a settlement with her estranged father more than two years after the court-ordered termination of a conservatorship that had given him control of her life, their attorneys said.
opinion RFK Jr.'s presidential candidacy and its potential threat to Biden and Trump
Although it's still unclear how much damage Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy can do to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump this election, Washington political columnist Eric Ham says what is clear is both sides recognize the potential threat.