2 day ordeal driver dies

[Fancy]

A truck driver who was trapped in his overturned truck for two days following a highway crash in Manning Park has died.

A family member living in Prince Edward Island says Pat Gaudet died early Saturday morning.

Joyce McCardle says her nephew was working in B.C. as a truck driver.

She describes the 45-year-old as a "wonderful family man" who loved camping and was trained as a sommelier. She says Gaudet was devoted to his wife and two daughters.

The crash happened Tuesday on Highway 3 in the area of Rhododendron Flats in Manning Park, about 36 kilometres east of Hope.

His truck was found turned over on the side of the highway Thursday morning and it took responders nearly 12 hours to extract him out of the rig.

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... htm#190677

I am so sorry to hear this. So many reached out to help him that deserve thanks as well. I feel for the family left behind.

[dirtybiker]

RIP Driver

[Smurf]

Very sorry he died. Too bad they could not have found him sooner he might have had a chance.

[Fancy]

It just sucks for all that time he spent waiting to be found that he couldn't be saved.

http://www.castanet.net/news/BC/190677/ ... -in-Oliver

[Queen K]

Very sorry he died. Too bad they could not have found him sooner he might have had a chance.

I was wondering the same thing. People carry call buttons for when they fell.
Do commercial trucks not have a capacity to have a GPS button when something obviously fails?
Would the mountainous terrain have defeated such technology?

Hard to know, but my heart goes out to him. The terror, the waiting...so heart wrenching.

[GordonH]

My condolences to his Family & friends

[stuphoto]

My heart also goes out to the family.

People carry call buttons for when they fell.
Do commercial trucks not have a capacity to have a GPS button when something obviously fails?
Would the mountainous terrain have defeated such technology?

That depends upon the company.
For example Westcan does have a system that you can send out a signal if you can reach the keyboard.
It isn't as reliable as you would hope, when you need it.

It's a dangerous industry, and even getting worst with new, inexperienced drivers. Some who have never seen a real mountain in their life.
Some of us want it to actually have proper training, and actually be considered as a trade.
Until the employeers actually open up their wallets and start paying a living wage ( based on a 40 hour week ) this won't change.
For that matter, until drivers stop working stupid hours for thise same companies things won't change.
I am counting the days until I hang up the truck keys, hopefully for good.
I am telling my boss that I am done on the ice April first, and he knows that it's my last year unless things change for the better.
With the new level of drivers working on the ice roads this year I am just hoping that I make it.

[LANDM]

There was evidently an unusual sequence of events and circumstances that disallowed them to find the truck with the onboard GPS. Otherwise, they have the ability to track the trucks very precisely.
The circumstances were described to me by someone who was talking to the company owner so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to relay third party info.
It is such a tragic event and I feel for the family of the driver.