P.E.I. residents concerned about safety after windshields smashed with gravel

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CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Abby Lawlor had just left Crapaud last week when a dump truck suddenly pulled out to pass her.

Initially, the 18-year-old, who said she was driving about 90 kilometres per hour, didn't think much of it until seconds later when she was jolted by a loud bang.

"It was so loud and so hard," Lawlor told SaltWire during an interview on May 26, recalling the event. "I thought it was a gunshot."

She quickly pulled over to collect herself, still not knowing exactly what happened.

That's when she noticed a golf ball-sized smash in her line of vision near the middle of the windshield.

At first, she was confused but soon remembered what she had seen just moments before – loose gravel from the top of the truck.

"I was pretty pissed off. I don't know if he noticed if anything had come off," said Lawlor. "It was a hefty size piece of gravel and it almost passed the last layer of glass."

Lawlor was stunned by the whole event. She had to replace her windshield, costing her $500, which was not covered by her insurance.

"I have two jobs and I’m supposed to be saving for school."

However, she feels happy to be alive, as the situation could have been much worse had she taken the original vehicle she had planned to.

"I almost took my dad's convertible out because it was nice out," she said. "If I had done that, it would have hit me in the head, and this would have been a whole different story."

Lawlor is not the only P.E.I. resident to have had a windshield cracked from gravel flying off trucks.

Ernie Maddix, owner of Maddix Seafoods in Wellington, drives across the province almost daily to deliver, buy and sell lobster. Last year, he purchased a new Ford F-550 truck, and since then, the windshield has received two separate cracks from two separate incidents, both involving large trucks hauling gravel without their loads secured.

"These guys are running the roads. They’re supposed to have tarps on top of their loads and they don't," Maddix told SaltWire during an interview on May 26.

"It's a new truck, it's got 25,000 (kilometres) on it and has got two separate cracks on it. Who do you think gets to pay for that?" he said.

Maddix's company operates seven trucks, which run between Wellington and Beach Point.

In the last several years, Maddix said he has had to replace more than four windshields, costing him thousands of dollars.

"There's not much we can do about it, but meanwhile you’re the guy stuck with the bill," he said.

For 38 years, Maddix has been driving trucks across P.E.I., as well as in Ontario where he used to live.

During that time, he has witnessed gravel fly off large haul trucks which do not have any tarps or covering many times. He said it seems to be a bigger issue in P.E.I.

"In Ontario, you would actually get fined if you didn't have tarps on your load, so you don't go around butting people's windshields. It's the law. They also have to sweep the back of their truck if they load up to not lose gravel," said Maddix.

Considering how often it happens in P.E.I., he said he is surprised there hasn't been more of a crackdown on the issue in the past.

"They should be enforcing that more. More and more people I talk to (said) they’ve had experiences of cracks in their windows. Maybe they’re too lazy to throw a tarp on. Who knows?" he said.

According to the P.E.I. Highway Traffic Act, no person is to drive, move or assist in moving a vehicle on a highway unless the vehicle is constructed or loaded to prevent any of its load from dropping, sifting, leaking or otherwise escaping from the vehicle.

It also states no person is legally allowed to operate a vehicle with a load on a highway unless the load and any covering are securely fastened to prevent the load from becoming loose or detached or in any manner which could be a hazard to others on the road.

Failure to comply with these regulations can lead to a fine of up to $2,000.

Maddix said he worries if these rules are not enforced more, someone is likely to get hurt soon.

Rafe Wright is a reporter with SaltWire in Prince Edward Island. He can be reached by email at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @wright542.