Traffic police are urging drivers to stay off their phones after several were caught snapping photos of a deadly crash scene.
The Wood Buffalo Integrated Traffic Unit was helping emergency crews during Monday’s head on collision on Highway 63. Police say 10 drivers were spotted taking pictures and videos with their phones while driving by the scene.
“The scene, obviously, was not pretty and the highway was shut down for a period of time,” said Sheriff Collin Dipasquale in a news release.
A 66-year-old Ontario man was killed when his pickup truck crossed the centre line and hit a gravel truck. Police closed the highway at kilometre marker 190 while they investigated. The I.T.U. eventually opened traffic to alternating lanes and police parked their vehicles between the crash site and one lane of the highway. Officers say what they saw was distasteful and somewhat shocking.
“Human curiosity is one thing, but better judgement should have been exercised by members of the public driving by. Common sense is sometimes not very common at all,” says Dipasquale.
The province’s distracted driving law makes it illegal to even hold an electronic device while behind the wheel. The 10 drivers were all issued mandatory court summons.
