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UPDATED: Truck spills load of apples in Penticton

Another transport truck overturned Oct. 9 at the northern gateway to Penticton
Apple spill


A transport truck carrying a load of apples overturned at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday at the intersection of Highway 97, spilling a load of apples over the highway. Cleanup crews were at work Friday morning cleaning up the mess, which spilled off the highway into the parking lot of Doc's Golf Centre.

The corner has been the scene of similar accidents, including a logging truck that dumped a load of logs in December 2013.

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UPDATE: Oct. 14

The 21-year-old driver of a semi trailer which spilled a load of apple bins on a treacherous Highway 97 corner Thursday night has been issued a ticket for driving with undue care and attention.

The unidentified man from High River, Alta. was driving for Canusa Transportation Ltd. of Osoyoos and was out of the truck sitting on the median when police arrived.

Penticton RCMP spokesman Sgt. Rick Dellebuur said investigating officers reported the driver suffered what appeared to be injuries to his elbow when the truck turned over but appeared otherwise unhurt.

A number of bins and some apples littered the south side of the road, some of which were cleared that night and others were still in the Doc’s parking lot Friday morning.

It is not believed there were any other vehicles involved.

“Basically it looks like he was just going too fast for the corner and overturned it,” said Dellebuur. “Especially the drivers of loaded trucks need to slow down. People have to realize when they have a load it takes a little longer to slow down and the vehicle handles differently and that corner fools you if it comes on quickly and all of a sudden you realize it’s too late.”

This was the second major accident involving a semi trailer on the corner in a year. The other happened in late December last year when a fully loaded logging truck went out of control, spilling logs across three lanes. There were no other vehicles involved in that accident and the cause was believed to be mechanical.