Former tow truck driver predicts more near misses, car pileups as Alberta looks to increase highway speed limits

A man who almost died while working on the side of Highway 2 is worried about the increased speed limit being tested. Amanda Anderson reports.

A former tow truck driver said he predicts more near misses and vehicle pileups if Alberta moves to increase the speed limit on the Queen Elizabeth II highway.

In 2018, Calvin Finnegan was working on the side of the QEII when he was struck by a semi, leaving him with injuries he still suffers from to this day.

“I laid there in the ditch,” Finnegan told CTV News Edmonton. “I started wiggling my limbs and realized I didn’t have any spinal injuries, so I tried to yell for help, because I couldn’t get up.”

Finnegan survived with a collapsed lung, punctured spleen, a broken humerus, shoulder and four broken ribs. He was in the hospital for more than a week before he was able to recover from home. He’s had to return to the hospital several times since for follow-up surgeries.

“I have permanent injuries that will never heal,” said Finnegan. “I have severe pain in my shoulder that prevents me from doing all sorts of things – playing with my kids … I don’t even have the overhead strength to teach my kids how to swing on monkey bars."

Finnegan has had to switch professions because towing is too hard on his body. He was able to get his Class 1 licence through the Workers Compensation Board and is now a long-haul trucker.

The stretch of highway Finnegan nearly died on is the very same that the province is testing a 120km/h speed limit on.

“People just don’t pay enough attention on that road to be increasing the speed,” said Finnegan. “We don’t have that third lane as a buffer free-flow lane. That is a two-lane highway for the most part, and it’s just not safe to begin with.

“I think we can expect to see 150 to 200 car pileups, and the damage is going to take twice as long to clean up.”

Finnegan is hoping drivers on the QEII will be more patient with trucks and emergency vehicles, especially on the 22-kilometre section south of the Leduc commercial vehicle inspection centre.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson