A 34-year-old woman from Cochrane is in stable condition after hitting a logging truck last Friday.
On Sept. 23 at 7:19 a.m., Cochrane RCMP responded to a collision between a Toyota SUV and a logging truck carrying lumber on Highway 22 north of the intersection at River Heights Drive.
RCMP Const. Jennifer Brewer said the SUV veered into the oncoming lane.
“We still don’t know what is playing a cause in this collision and out of respect for the family, we won’t be releasing all the details,” Brewer said.
The highway was closed for several hours as the Cochrane fire department removed the female driver from the SUV and cleaned up the scene of the accident.
The victim was transported to Foothills Hospital by ambulance in life threatening condition with internal injuries but has since been listed in stable condition, according to Brewer.
The driver of the logging truck was not injured.
"It is a very unfortunate incident," said Ed Kulcsar, from Spray Lake Sawmills. "We are following processes and doing an internal investigation and awaiting reports from the RCMP."
As the highway was closed for several of hours, some residents raised concerns about alternative and emergency access routes in the community.
“Every community has an alternative access route, they are usually gated and not for general use but for emergencies,” explained Suzanne Gadia, senior manager for community services with the town.
“We want to make sure everything is safe to open, we don’t want to jeopardize emergency personnel in any way and we want to make sure we are not creating more of a problem.”
Gadia explained that the town is in charge of the roads but administration works with emergency responders to determine the best timeline to allow public access to the alternative routes.
“We don’t want to do anything to put responders in jeopardy,” Gadia said.
The collision is still under investigation in partnership with the Cochrane RCMP and the RCMP’s Forensic Collision Reconstruction Unit. It is unknown if any charges will be laid.
