Multiple tractor trailers crash in icy week on Highway 5 near Clearwater

Published 12:26 pm Friday, December 19, 2025

Clearwater RCMP responded to several motor vehicle incidents in the week of Dec. 8 to 15, including one that involved a tractor trailer going too fast for winter conditions.

Police received a complaint of a tractor trailer rollover on Highway 5 just north of Avola at 6:39 a.m. Dec. 11. Sgt. Grant Simpson attended the scene where the highway maintenance contractor already had its team managing traffic control as there were several steel beams from the flat deck trailer impeding a portion of the highway.

The driver was located and cleared by BC Emergency Health Services with no injuries. He claimed he had encountered icy road conditions and heavy fog.

It was clear to Sgt. Simpson that the driver had been going at a speed that was far too fast for the conditions, given the weight of his load and the fact that Simpson had to adjust his driving according to the conditions himself prior to arriving on scene.

An accident report was filled out and the driver was handed a violation ticket for speed relative to conditions. The driver was transported to Blue River with one of the flaggers at the scene.

Just after midnight on Dec. 13, a 25-year-old Surrey man called to report a single vehicle off the road. A tractor trailer unit had jack-knifed in the 8000 block of Highway 5, 18 kilometres south of Blue River. The complainant used his iPhone to make the call via satellite, then left prior to police arrival.

Upon arriving, an RCMP officer spoke with the driver, a 31-year-old Abbotsford man who said he was southbound driving the tractor trailer when he lost control on ice and went off with the tractor over a bank. Also in the cab was a passenger, a 32-year-old Abbotsford man. Both were uninjured and were driven to Blue River with a file number.

The trailer ended up perpendicular above the southbound lane, blocking the flow of traffic. The Vavenby Fire Department along with highway contractors remained at the scene to direct traffic until the local heavy tow company and flaggers arrived to remove the truck and trailers.

No other vehicles were involved and neither drugs nor alcohol were suspected, with black ice deemed a major factor. The incident is still under investigation.

Later that morning, a Fort Saskatchewan woman contacted Clearwater RCMP to report a single motor vehicle roll over in the southbound lane of Highway 5 north of Blue River, near Mud River Forest Service Road. The woman described a lime green pickup truck on its roof in the ditch near a bridge. An officer patrolled the area and found the truck north of Thunder River Bridge in Valemount RCMP’s jurisdiction.

Highway maintenance was on scene and controlling traffic, and a tow company was also on scene preparing to tow the vehicle. The officer was unable to take a plate as the vehicle had knocked down a hydro pole and was unsafe to approach. BC Hydro was aware and attending. The tow company advised the accident happened the previous evening.

The incident is still under investigation.