A routine call to a broken-down semi-trailer unit on the Trans-Canada Highway turned into a death-defying experience for tow truck driver Joe Topuschak, after he narrowly avoided a destructive collision involving three semi-trucks.
“I was thinking (while servicing the trailer), ‘In five minutes I’ll be out of here.’ But to be honest, mayhem and carnage erupted,” said the Big Rig Towing employee.
Around 11 p.m. Monday, Topuschak was called out from Regina to provide assistance for a semi-trailer unit that had lost some wheels off its trailer on the side of the highway just west of Whitewood. Topuschak said he arrived on the scene and went to work fixing the trailer.
Shortly after 1 a.m., he and the driver were standing roughly 50 feet away when a second semi-trailer unit travelling on the highway collided with the first truck.
“Both me and the driver I was assisting got knocked down. Something hit me in the head, I don’t know what it was. Something knocked him down, he was limping around. Honestly, it’s a blur. I heard the impact, and I just knew what was happening. I turned my head and hoped for the best,” he said.
Topuschak checked both himself and the first driver and then called the RCMP and EMS. As he was on the phone, he saw a third semi-trailer unit heading straight for the first two and barely had time to find cover.
“I saw the grille. I knew that grille, I knew the truck. It was a Kenworth T600. I knew what it was and I moved as quick as I could but I just didn’t think it would be fast enough,” he said.
Topuschak started to run but couldn’t get moving. He knew he wouldn’t get to the front of his truck to get out of the way.
“I just thought, ‘Dive, go under the truck, just dive under the truck.’ I tried to dive under the truck far enough and hoped the other truck didn’t hit so hard that it would hit me or something. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen at that point, I really didn’t. I just hoped I was under the truck far enough and was safe,” he explained.
While his Tow truck was hit by the third semi, Topuschak managed to roll away to safety on the other side. He was taken to hospital in Broadview and treated for lacerations, bumps and a concussion, but was released and came back out to the scene to help his co-workers.
The RCMP reported another male, one of the semi drivers, was taken to the Broadview Hospital and was held until Tuesday afternoon with minor injuries.
“I don’t know how we all got away with as little as we did. I can’t even explain the sound of the impact of that,” Topuschak said.
Both westbound lanes were closed and traffic was diverted to one of the eastbound lanes while debris was cleaned up and the damaged vehicles were removed. One westbound lane was opened to traffic around 11:30 a.m.
The RCMP is continuing to investigate and could not say whether highway or weather conditions played a role in the collision.
Topuschak said traffic on the highway was sparse at the time, road conditions seemed normal and the visibility was good enough for him to see the lights of Whitewood a few kilometres away. He believes the collision was caused by a lack of care and attention by the drivers, who didn’t seem to slow down even though his tow truck lights were flashing.
“This is a common problem. Tow trucks working on the road, people come flying past us all the time. This is not the first time something like this has happened to me,” he said.
“This is the worst one I’ve been involved in but this is number four in 12 years of towing.”
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