‘The only thing I was thinking is which way I needed to jump,’ says construction supervisor after incident near Maymont

Allan Barilla recounts a shocking case of dangerous driving through his construction zone that could have killed somebody, but he does so rather matter-of-factly.

“I’ve been doing what I’m doing for the same company for 39 years, so I’ve pretty much seen it all,” Barilla says.

Barilla is the general manager of the Regina-based Morsky Construction and the supervisor of a project near Maymont. That worksite was where a driver allegedly ploughed through the cones, nearly hitting workers, before eventually crashing and rolling over.

The 21-year-old driver was sent to hospital and no life-threatening injuries were reported.

Barilla says workers are doing well, after a “grim reminder” of what can happen on the road. Workers are taught during safety meetings that “a lot of crazy stuff can happen,” whether it’s an impaired driver, or one having a medical emergency.

A scary incident took place yesterday in a construction zone on Highway 16 between Denholm & Maymont.
 
Fortunately, no one was killed, but this story could have had a tragic outcome. Please remember that construction zones are someone's workplace – keep them safe.  #Slowto60 pic.twitter.com/d2xzaAjlk4

— SGI (@SGItweets) July 27, 2021

He says the work zone started with a message board set up to tell drivers that the right lane would be closed for the next 13 kilometres. Where traffic merges, there’s an arrow board, along with cones steering drivers into the left lane.

The driver was trying to speed past the lineup of vehicles, Barilla said, at an estimated speed of 140 km/h.

“His car couldn’t turn in front of them before the cones, so he smashed through the cones and knocked about four in the air that went flying every direction. And he continued down the closed-off lane,” Barilla said.

Workers alerted their colleagues further down the road, including Barilla, among those who tried to get a photo of the licence plate.

“He was flying at myself really fast, and I was able to get a plate number with that video and as soon as I stopped recording I was on the phone with the RCMP,” he said.

“The only thing I was thinking is which way I needed to jump.”

At one point, a flag person took a photo of the driver giving her the middle finger, he said.

Barilla said the driver continued “like a madman,” passing others through the median and on the grass.

With cones stuck under the speeding car, Barilla said the driver lost control and ended up in the wrong lanes in front of an oncoming semi.

The semi manoeuvred to avoid a collision, he said, as the driver continued going the wrong way before crashing into other vehicles.

Radios were key to alerting everybody on the job site about what was happening and Barilla praised workers for keeping each other safe.

Asked what he would say to the driver if given the chance, Barilla said “It’s really too bad that someone has that attitude and no respect for anybody else’s life, and probably his own.”

He noted that aggressive driving in orange zones is a growing problem with motorists becoming more impatient even though the reduced speed limits cost people a fraction of their day.

“It normally takes you four minutes and 30 seconds longer to go through at 60 instead of 110. So we’re taking five minutes out of somebody’s life, to slow down and stay safe for themselves and for the people around them,” Barilla said.

“I mean it’s less time than they would spend in a Tim Hortons drive-thru, but yet they feel that the world is ending that we’ve slowed them down and inconvenienced them.”