The BC Highway Patrol is hoping that footage from a shocking highway incident just over two years ago will remind people to “slow down and move over” when they see flashing lights.
The footage is from a major crash on the Trans-Canada Highway (Hwy 1) just west of Field, BC, around 9:30 pm on Dec. 8, 2023.
While working with a BCHP officer to impound a Mercedes for excessive speeding, a tow truck operator had its flashing amber lights activated at the side of Hwy 1.
According to the BCHP, 38-year-old Dalvir Singh Jhattu of Alberta ignored those flashing lights and drove his eastbound tractor trailer straight into the back of the tow truck.
The tow truck and Mercedes were both destroyed, as was Jhattu’s tractor trailer after it was launched into the air and landed on its side stretched across all four lanes of Hwy 1.
“Luckily the tow truck operator, the police officer and the Mercedes driver were safely off to the side of the road, or they would certainly have been killed,” said Cpl. Michael McLaughlin. “The tractor-trailer driver could easily have died as his truck rolled over and he became trapped.”
The BCHP says this is why the Slow Down Move Over law is in place, as it requires all drivers to slow down to under 70 km/h when the speed limit is over 80 km/h if flashing lights are present.
“Drivers move to the farthest safe and legal driving lane away from the flashing lights and emergency responders,” the law explains.
Jhattu was found guilty of dangerous driving and was sentenced on April 8, 2026, to a six-month conditional sentence order, 90 days of house arrest, a 12-month Canada-wide driving ban and other conditions.
“Normal speed limits exist for ideal conditions,” McLaughlin added. “When road workers or emergency responders are at the side of the road, you are legally required to slow down even more.”
