EDMONTON — A dangerously close pass along Alberta’s Queen Elizabeth Highway was caught on dashcam earlier this week and the video has gone viral.
In a video posted by Anton Vladimirovich, a car can be seen driving in the right-hand lane of the highway. The car then swerves into the middle of the road, speeding between two cars instead of passing safely.
The dangerous pass happened at around 11:20 a.m. near Bowden.
Data from the dashcam shows the vehicle capturing the video was driving around 120 kilometres per hour.
Katrina, who asked her last name not be published, was driving the blue BMW in the left-hand lane.
“I’ve never been lane split before,” she said Tuesday. “What if at that moment I decided to change lanes?
“After he lane split he pulled over on the right-hand shoulder and passed the black pick-up truck and the semi truck on the shoulder and continued on.”
Watch below: It was supposed to be a nice Sunday drive but but instead, a recent incident on the QE2 left drivers fearing for their lives. And as Kendra Slugoski reports, it was all caught on camera.
Katrina said groups of BMW owners from Calgary and Edmonton were heading to Sylvan Lake for a group meeting when the incident happened. She saw the grey Infiniti in Calgary when she took off and said the driver knew some of the people in the Calgary BMW group.
She said she does not know the driver of the vehicle and warned his driving was incredibly dangerous.
“If anyone was to drive like that on one of my cruises they would not be coming back. They would not be allowed to participate in any of our events,” she said.
“(It’s) not just the illegal part of the maneuver. The fact that he comes so close and is so dangerous. I could have meandered to the right, the guy in the white BMW could have meandered to the left, something could have happened where he could have clipped us.
“I would have been sent into the guardrail or another vehicle, or something would have happened where it wasn’t just his life he was endangering, it was the lives of the vehicles that he split and also potentially other vehicles on the road if something went wrong.”
Katrina said she and three or four other drivers provided statements to the RCMP once they arrived in Sylvan Lake.
The Millet Fire Department took to its Facebook page to comment on the video.
“Sooner or later first responders end up having to deal with the aftermath of morons like this. And all too often, it’s innocent people who are hurt,” the post reads.
The video was also shared on the Calgary Police Service’s website.
Cpl. Kevin R. Halwa with Sylvan Lake RCMP said officers received numerous calls from concerned drivers on the QEII about the driver of the silver Infiniti.
Once the driver arrived in town he was interviewed by Sylvan Lake RCMP, who are now in possession of the dashcam video.
“We’ve reviewed the video. In my opinion, it’s clearly a case of dangerous driving which the motoring public in Alberta, let alone any other part of North America, would likely be appalled with,” Halwa said.
Halwa said charges against the driver will likely be laid later this week.
“Given the nature of the traffic and the driving pattern of the person driving, (charges) could range anywhere from Criminal Code dangerous driving to any plethora of charges under the Traffic Safety Act which would also include driving carelessly, and passing when unsafe, occupying two lanes.”