Council to discuss reversing truck issue

LEAMINGTON — On January 27 of this year, an eastbound vehicle on County Rd 18 in Leamington, collided with a tractor trailer attempting to back into the driveway of a private residence.

The accident killed two people and badly injured two others, leaving the deceased couple’s children with no parents.

At the February 24 Leamington Council meeting, councillor John Hammond brought forth a notice of motion — outlining the accident and requesting council to seek an amendment to the Highway Traffic Act to curb such events.

Currently, Section 157 of the Highway Traffic Act, prohibits vehicles over 7 metres in length from reversing on a highway that has an 80km per hour speed limit or more.

Hammond’s notice of motion calls for the Highway Traffic Act to be amended to 60 km per hour, and be in effect from 1 hour before sunset to one hour after sunrise.

“As a retired firefighter, I’ve seen far too many accidents because of this situation,” he said.

Council was to have a full discussion at last night’s (Tuesday) council meeting.