'It would have killed me': Truck driver speaks out after close call on P.E.I. highway

A New Brunswick-based truckeris warning impatient drivers looking to bypass rigs on the highway to be more carefulafteraclose call on a P.E.I. highway.

Catlin Cavanaugh said he was driving through Kinkora, P.E.I., last week when a car illegally passed him on the highway, cut him off and then slammed on the brakes to do a U-turn when the driver realized they would miss their turn.

"I deal with this on a daily basis,and it's very frustrating,"Cavanaugh said.

'They just kept going'

Cavanaugh said he was forced to slam on his brakes, swerve and make an emergency stop, causing his load to shift, break two chains and causedamage to his truck.

Cavanaugh was transporting about 45,000 pounds of steel beams and said if the load had shifted in a different direction, even by a little bit, it could have gone through the cabin of his truck.

"It would have killed me," he said. "I jumped out of the truck and I tried to flag them to pull over and they just drove around [and] kept going."

Cavanaugh added that incidents like this one not only puthis lifein danger, but cause delivery delays and damage to his equipment.

"Everyone has 'I don't want to be stuck behind a truck' mentality," hesaid.

Use caution say RCMP

RCMP Staff Sgt. Kevin Bailliesaid policesee a lot of road incidents like this one, and the blamealmost always lies with thedriver of the car.

"What motorists don't know is that for about a 100 kilometres per houran average car would require about a 100 metres to stop, a loaded tractor trailer could take up as much as 500 metres," Bailliesaid.

According to Baillie, drivers should always check in their rear view mirror before makingsudden stops. He added that if drivers want to pass a truck, they should make sure todo solegally and with enough space betweenvehicles.

Cavanaugh saidsince the incident, he'sinstalled a dash camera for insurance purposesfor when something like this happens again. But mostly. he said, hejust wants to make it home safe.

"I have a little daughter I try and get home to every week."

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