The Watrous department of the RCMP is reminding drivers to be cautious when encountering flooded roads after a traffic accident earlier this month claimed the life of a 39-year-old Imperial man.
“People need to be aware of (their) surroundings,” said Watrous RCMP Sergeant Earl LeBlanc. “We advise people not to cross any roads that have water on it.”
At approximately 10 p.m. on July 11 an unidentified male driver of a F-350 pickup truck, who was accompanied by his 10-year-old son, veered off the east side of a rural grid road and into a slough about four kilometres south of Highway 15 in the Rural Municipality of Wood Creek. At the time of the accident, about 200 metres of the road was covered with water from a nearby slough that had overflowed due to recent flooding in the area.
Once the truck began to submerge in the deeper water, LeBlanc said the driver made sure his son got out of the vehicle first and began to swim to safety. He said the son made it to dry land and is physically unhurt, but the driver was unable to reach land safely once he exited the truck.
The body of the deceased male driver and the truck was located and removed the next day from the water with the assistance of the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team. An autopsy has been ordered by the office of the Chief Coroner to determine the exact cause of death.
LeBlanc said speed was not an issue in the accident and there is no indication right now that alcohol may have been a factor. He said police have concluded that driver error is the cause of the crash, but their investigation remains open until a cause of death is determined.
The Watrous RCMP receives reports of vehicles entering sloughs every now and again due to the many bodies of water that line roads and highways in the province, said LeBlanc, but they don’t hear of many vehicles veering into sloughs off of flooded roads. He said residents of a particular area may feel comfortable crossing roads that have water on them due to their familiarity with them, but the RCMP would like to make it clear their advice is to stay off any flooded roadways.