‘Not a safe place at any time’: 3 Edmonton-area roadside deaths in last year prompt RCMP warnings

Police have a warning for others after three people who pulled over to the side of Edmonton-area freeways over the past year were killed by passing vehicles.

In the last three weeks, two drivers have been killed by passing vehicles after stopping at the side of Anthony Henday Drive in southwest Edmonton.

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said those cases marked the second and third roadside deaths on Edmonton-area freeways in the span of less than a year – leading Alberta Mounties to strongly advise not stopping on busy roads unless in the case of an emergency.

“On Anthony Henday, you see multiple vehicles on the side of the road, and I always ask myself … What’s the situation with a lot of these? I think it could be mitigated quite a bit,” Savinkoff said in an interview Tuesday.

“The side of the road is not a safe place at any time. It should be avoided whenever possible.”

Late Sunday afternoon, a 53-year-old man from Calgary stopped on the Henday eastbound near Heritage Valley Trail to help another 21-year-old driver fix a flat tire, Savinkoff said.

He was then struck and killed by a passing Jeep Grand Cherokee. The 21-year-old woman he was helping remains in serious but stable condition at the hospital, Savinkoff added.

“What we know right now is we have eliminated alcohol as being a factor in the collision … no charges have been laid at this time,” Savinkoff said of the crash.

He pointed to a similar incident from late January, in which 27-year-old Ahmed Ali was sitting in his broken-down Volkswagen Passat when he was struck from behind by a Dodge Ram pickup truck. Ali died at the scene.

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In June 2025, Whitemud Drive was the site of the roadside death of Ashton Wilson, who had stopped on the shoulder near 111 Street to inspect his van when a semi truck hit him. He also died on scene.

“When you’re pulled over on the road, you’re kind of trusting that everybody going by you at that time isn’t drunk, isn’t distracted, isn’t tired from whatever they were doing last night,” Savinkoff said. “You can’t fully trust that they could merge or drift off the centre lane.”

Savinkoff said the hazards of stopping on the side of a highway are well-known to police, construction crews and tow truck drivers, who often have lights, signs and other methods of making their presence more clear.

He advises other drivers to avoid pulling over on the side of a busy road whenever possible. If in an emergency situation, he said to pull over to the side as far as possible, put on your hazards and call a tow truck immediately.

“Pull over as much as you can … If that means putting yourself onto the grass, if you can safely do that, do that,” he said.

“The reality is, the side of the road is a dangerous place, and we can do whatever we can to mitigate that risk, but the risk is always there.”

Raj Bajwa, an Edmonton-area driving instructor, said he teaches his students to try not to panic and do their best to get off busy roads, put up cones and make themselves as visible as possible.

He also said drivers should be leaving enough visible space in front of them to change lanes and, ideally, avoid vehicles on the side of the road.

“You should be planning 25 seconds to 30 seconds ahead so you can make that lane change and go by safely,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

Bajwa added to not weigh convenience over safety in cases of flat tires or inspections.

“Everybody thinks, ‘Oh, I can quickly do it,’ but that little shortcut can be the difference between life and death.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Connor Hogg