Safety crusader, truckers say changes are needed to stop wrecks in N.L.'s notorious Wreckhouse - Action News
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Safety crusader, truckers say changes are needed to stop wrecks in N.L.'s notorious Wreckhouse

A man from Codroy Valley, N.L., is calling for action to prevent transport truck accidents in the Wreckhouse area, which is prone to hurricane-force winds.

N.L. man wants Trans-Canada Highway closed to commercial traffic during peak wind gusts

A tractor trailer across a highway in snowy conditions.
A tractor-trailer jackknifed in the Wreckhouse area of southwestern Newfoundland on March 18. Some truckers and one local advocate say more safety measures should be in place to prevent people from driving through intense winds in the area. (Submitted by Eric Leukert)

A retired senior in southwestern Newfoundland says he's so concerned about highway safety in an area prone to hurricane-force winds that he's advocating for stricter safety measures and some commercial truckers agree with him.

Winds in the Wreckhouse area funnel through mountains and create gusts that often reach, and sometimes exceed, 150 km/h. At those times, large transport trucks frequently topple over, sometimes blowing off the Trans-Canada Highway or jackknifing across it.

Frank AuCoin, who lives in nearby Codroy, saidhe believes commercial trucks are a threat to the safety of people in passenger vehicles, which tend to be less vulnerable to high winds but are also advised to pull over at times.

Provincially maintained message boards located on either end of the Wreckhouse area are continually updated with current wind conditions. When wind gusts in the Wreckhouse exceed 80 km/h, the message board reads: "High Wind Advisory, Wind Gusts Exceeding 80 km/h, Trucks Advised to Pull Over."

But AuCoin said the signs are nearly useless without enforcement, as some truck drivers don't heed the advisories and continue through the area.

"If they ignore that sign and continue driving, this is where we should have some enforcement," said AuCoin in an interview with CBC News.

A man with greying hair and a grey moustache with a dark grey collared up shirt sits with arms folded and is smiling.
Frank AuCoin says he believes a barricade is needed at peak wind gusts in the Wreckhouse area to stop traffic from going through the area. (Submitted by Frank AuCoin)

Keep on truckin'

For the past three yearsAuCoin has spent his days researching, making calls to request information, and pleading with government officials to take action to prevent people from being injured or killed at Wreckhouse.

The advocacy has become a crusade for AuCoin, but he said it's discouraging that it hasn't led to more attention from decision-makers.

"My concern is the safety of the travelling public," said AuCoin. "It's just a matter of time when there's going to be a serious accident."

AuCoin said the large electronic billboards on the Trans-Canada Highway should be sufficientenough to convince commercial drivers to pull over.

But he said his research has convinced him it'stime to stop relying on the honour system to prevent rollovers.

"My objective is eventually to have a barricade or some sort of a means of stopping the traffic and diverting them to a safe location," said AuCoin.

A man with a t-shirt and blue jeans stands in front of the cab of a transport truck which is parked in front of a garage.
Curtis Cutler says he won't drive through the Wreckhouse with an empty trailer when winds are high. (Submitted by Curtis Cutler)

Waiting out the wind

Commercial truck drivers are similarly dismayed by the number of rollovers they're seeing between the Codroy Valley and Port aux Basques.

Curtis Cutler travels through the Wreckhouse quite often on his way to and from the Marine Atlantic ferry to Nova Scotia, and he's been caught in higher-than-anticipated winds at times.

"You just basically get a death grip on the wheel, and just hope and pray that you get lucky," said Cutler.

"I made the mistake when I first started driving and, going through there, I had the wind actually lift the hood on my truck where I could see the engine while I was driving," he recalled.

But Cutler told CBCthat going through the Wreckhouse in high winds is a poor idea, and his approach now is not to wait for an advisory. Instead, when gusts exceed 70 km/h and he's hauling an empty trailer, Cutler said, he stops in an area near the highway and waits for winds to subside.

A man dressed in black stands next to a white transport truck.
Stan Reid says most drivers who are familiar with the Wreckhouse pay attention to warning signs advising them to pull over in high wind gusts. (Submitted by Stan Reid)

Stan Reid, a commercial driver who travels through the Wreckhouse twice a week, said he also stops when the winds are high, rather than pushing on.

He claims most of the trucks that blow over are operated by drivers who aren't familiar with that stretch of highway. Reid said he can relate to the challenges they face.

He told CBC News he still thinks back more than 30 years to his first trip through the Wreckhouse as a commercial truck driver when he was travelling with an empty trailer.

"I was green to the truck-driving world, and I went on through, and I was empty. I made it into Port aux Basques. Looking backing now, I don't know how," said Reid.

The cab of a tractor trailer and the trailer portion are tipped on their side on the highway.
A tractor-trailer tipped on its side during high winds and blocked one lane of the Trans-Canada Highway on March 11. (Submitted by Michael Batts)

Caution withthe wind

Cutler and Reid don't necessarily embrace the idea of barricades, but they suggest more warning signs and a mandatory rest area or checkpoint could go a long way toward convincing drivers to delay their travel through the area.

Cutler said fines for those who ignore the warnings might help, as it is in everyone's best interests to reduce the number of incidents.

"If they try to go by whatever was set up, they roll over. That's the ultimate punishment that's delivered right from Mother Nature when you try to defy her," said Cutler.

Reid said replacing a truck and trailer will cost a driver or their company between $400,000 and $500,000 plus the cost of whatever the trailer might have been carrying.

A wooden sign with the word
The Wreckhouse area experiences such high wind gusts that Environment Canada includes a separate 'Wreckhouse wind warning' in its forecasts. (Submitted by Kathy Savoury)

Wind risk

AuCoin said it's not just people who choose to travel who face potential danger when commercial truck drivers don't comply with warnings to stay off the Trans-Canada, but also people who need to travel in an emergency.

He said he worries about what would happen if someone in his area needed to be rushed to the nearest hospital in Port aux Basques while a jackknifed tractor trailer is sprawled across the highway.

"Someone's life could be in jeopardy because of this," said AuCoin.

CBC asked the provincial Transportation and Infrastructure Department whether the government would consider stronger warnings or closing the highway in peak wind gusts.

An emailed statement from spokesperson Maria Browne on the department's behalf said message boards on either end of the Wreckhouse area are linked to Environment Canada's weather station and display wind speeds and advisories.

The statement said the information is also communicated on the province's travel app and website known as NL511 and it is automatically shared on X, formerly Twitter, by the account @nl511updates.

The department's email said the combination of message boards, mobile app, website and social media "are appropriate in helping motorists make informed decisions before travelling."

"Safety on our province's roadways is a collaborative effort," says the statement.

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