Edmonton driver upset nobody stopped for half an hour after he crashed

EDMONTON – After reportedly swerving to avoid colliding with a cube van during Tuesday morning’s commute, Colin Gerke’s vehicle went off the road near 91 Street and 39 Avenue. What made it worse, though, is that nobody stopped.

“Everybody that was at the intersection who had witnessed what happened had already driven through,” Gerke said. “The guy that caused my accident carried on…it wasn’t until about half an hour after, that somebody even came to make sure I was okay.”

Don Szarko with the Alberta Motor Association says most Albertans do stop to help. But he realizes that motorists can sometimes be reluctant to pull over because they either don’t know what to do, or are afraid they’ll do the wrong thing.

Szarko says that in Alberta, you would be protected under the Good Samaritan law. Not doing anything, on the other hand, could have major implications.

“Especially if you’re first on the scene, just simply making a phone call to 911 could save a person’s life,” Szarko said.

And if that doesn’t convince you, this might:

“The Alberta Traffic Safety Act requires you – if you are either directly or indirectly involved in an accident – to actually stop and remain at the scene until a police officer arrives,” Szarko explained.

If you are stopping to help another driver, Szarko asks that you follow these safety tips:

• pull off the road as far as possible.
• leave at least one car length, if possible, between you and the vehicle in distress
• try and exit out the passenger side, rather than the traffic side

You can find more advice on how to safely help at a crash on the AMA’s website.

As for Gerke, since witnesses didn’t stop after he swerved off the road, the damage will now fall onto his insurance.

“It’s very unfortunate.”

With files from Quinn Ohler, Global News

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