Dashcam catches near collision between semi-truck and car in B.C.

Jonas Jones and his family had a close call on the road near Salmon Arm, B.C. on Wednesday afternoon when their car was almost hit by an oncoming semi-truck.

The Revelstoke man was on his way home after picking up his wife and two children from Salmon Arm when he came to an inclined part of the road where two lanes merged into one.

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"I could see two lorries, one overtaking the other … I could see quite easily the guy wasn't going to be able to complete the maneuver," he said. "I just checked to make sure there were no driveways or no one coming up or no one coming up a driveway, pulling out, which would've blocked my opportunity to avoid having a head-on.

"I moved over to the right-hand side and managed to avoid it, which was quite good."

The truck, he says, passed within one or two feet his vehicle as it entered his lane. Jones captured the incident on his dashcam.

Dashcam shows close call on Shuswap road

8 years ago

Duration 0:21

Jonah Jones and his family had a scary moment outside Salmon Arm when a truck almost hit their vehicle.

'I was quite keen to avoid him'

Jones says he was fortunate to have seen the situation develop quite a ways away, which allowed him to take action.

He was also fortunate that there was enough hard shoulder at that point for him to pull off without going into the ditch and that the snow had melted on the road.

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"I think he was going all speed to get by, so I was quite keen to avoid him," Jones said.

The truck in the video appears to be transporting a CN Intermodal trailer.

CN says they are investigating the incident but would offer no further comment.

'I'm not unusual in this'

Jones says incidents like these happen quite frequently on roads in B.C., which is why the video, when posted to a Shuswap Facebook group, seemed to strike a chord with members.

"It's happened to so many people. I'm not unusual in this," he said. "In my opinion it's something that's going on on a regular basis and people are witnessing on a regular basis. I think it is something that needs to be addressed."

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Jones believes addressing the problems of unsafe driving in the Shuswap means addressing multiple challenges: driver judgement, road design and even the pressure truck drivers are under to make their runs as fast as possible in many cases.

A U.K. expat, Jones moved to B.C. about two and a half years ago, and feels driving in Canada is less safe than driving in other countries he's lived.

"There's definitely a higher level of risk on these roads," he said.