A Calgary man’s dream car is banged up after he says he struck a paint can on Stoney Trail on Thursday morning while driving to work.
Martin Lins said in an interview Friday that he believes the can was part of a pile of debris that fell off of someone’s vehicle due to an unsecured load.
“I just want people to be aware of what’s in their vehicles and make sure they’re secured,” Lins said Friday.
Lins’ bumper was cracked and paint stained parts of his sports car, which he bought only five months ago.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Lins said.
“You put all your hard work to pay for it.”
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Unsecured loads are an issue in more places than just Calgary, according to Andrew Barnes, the director of compliance and regulatory affairs with the Alberta Motor Transport Association.
“People need to understand that this is a real problem,” Barnes said.
“If a couch falls off of a pickup truck or whether a piece of cement falls of a commercial vehicle, that is potentially a life threatening incident on a highway.”
This past summer, inspectors from the United States and Canada with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance undertook their annual enforcement event and found that cargo securement was the second most common vehicle violation recorded.
“Whether you’re operating a commercial vehicle or whether you’re operating a half-ton, all the contents of the vehicle, whether it’s in the back of a half-ton or whether it’s on a flat deck trailer, need to be secured,” Barnes said.