A woman in British Columbia’s Shuswap is calling for improved safety measures on the Trans-Canada Highway after an out-of-control 18-wheeler truck slid off of Highway 1 and crashed into her house.
On Jan. 31, around 3:00 p.m. Hilda Freimuth was awoken from a nap by the truck veering into her garage in Sorrento. One week later, the truck remains lodged inside her house
Freimuth was uninjured and the driver only suffered a few minor cuts — and she says the incident could have been a lot worse.
“I heard this loud rustling, cracking noise and then a huge bang and then the whole house shook like an earthquake,” she told Global News.
“I was just in shock and I saw lots of people coming down from the highway, bless their souls, to help.”
She’s now on a mission to prevent something like this from happening again.
Freimuth believes a barrier on that particular stretch of roadway could prevent future incidents.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said in a statement to Global News that it is still gathering information about the crash.
“The Ministry will additionally be reviewing the safety history of the area and considering what other safety measures may be required at this location,” it said in a statement.
“Hopefully we can work with the highways or someone to see if we can get those barriers up, so we feel better about things,” said Freimuth.
“I think it needs to happen, just for everyone’s safety here.”
In the coming days, a structural engineer will try to remove the cab of the truck, which is currently jammed into her garage, which took the brunt of the impact.
The engineers have told her the roof of her house is resting on the truck, and will need to be propped up before it can be removed.
Once the rig is out, then they will do a reassessment.
Despite the close call, she hopes to move home in the coming days after spending the last seven in a hotel.
Work is scheduled to start on Wednesday.
“I am (unlucky) that this happened but lucky it turned out the way it did. Police and fire say (it was) the best-case scenario,” said Freimuth.
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