UPDATE: Impaired driving charges after car seen swerving through Saskatchewan work zone
Workers say it was a terrifying encounter on Highway 16 near Maymont, Sask., after a driver swerved through a construction zone at dangerously high speeds.
Warman RCMP said they received a report around 2 p.m. Monday of a red car driving the wrong way through the construction zone, weaving in and out of traffic and almost hitting the workers.
Video of the car was captured by construction workers as it blasted through pylons.
Police said the red car hit struck another car, sending it rolling into the ditch, then side-swiped a third car.
The red car then entered the ditch and rolled.
RCMP said the driver, a 21-year-old man, was taken to hospital for treatment of his injuries.
Daniel Sarkan, who was driving the car that was hit, said he can’t believe everyone survived.
“All I had time to do was swerve as quick as I could to avoid it being a full head-on collision,” Sarkan told Global News.
“So instead of him hitting me right in the front of my vehicle, he hit on the driver’s side and the rear part of the vehicle. And instantly, after that, I was rolling.”
The construction site’s manager captured the video of the dangerous driver.
Allan Barilla said it’s something they try to prepare employees for, but with no real protection between their workers and traffic, it could have been a lot worse.
“We have a thousand cars an hour, and all you need is one person that is under the influence or sick or maybe having a medical emergency and you don’t know how they’re going to react or what they’re going to do,” said Barilla, general project manager for Morsky Construction.
Barilla said drivers need to remember that it’s the law to slow to 60 kilometres per hour near roadside workers.
According to SGI, there were 101 collisions in work zones in 2020, resulting in 35 injuries and one death.
No charges have been laid as RCMP continue to investigate.
—With files from Emily Olsen