Shortly after 10:30 a.m. on Jan 29, members of the Airdrie Integrated Traffic Unit (ITU) attended the scene of a serious collision on Highway 2 just north of Airdrie.
A northbound Nissan pickup truck lost control and crossed into the southbound lanes where it collided with a semi truck.
The driver and lone occupant of the Nissan, a 35-year-old man from Calgary was taken to hospital by ground ambulance, as STARS Air Ambulance was unable to get to the scene because of the weather. He later succumbed to his injuries.
“We’re still speaking with witnesses and waiting for the report back from the forensic accident reconstruction department, but at this point we believe the cause of the accident was the weather and road conditions,” said Cpl. Darrin Turnbull, Airdrie ITU.
The north and southbound lanes where the accident occurred are separated by a cable barrier and Turnbull explained that because of snow build up the Nissan pickup jumped over it quite easily.
“With the snow melting and freezing over the past few weeks there’s been quite a bit of hard pack on those barriers and the level of snow built up to the point where the height of the barrier was reduced,” he said.
His family has been notified and his name will not be released at this time.
