Autoblog

Massive Alberta highway pileup sends 300 people to hospital after crash

Mark Pereira — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:58:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Safety, Videos, Canada

A massive pileup in Canada was the result of a huge snowstorm that struck a busy stretch of Alberta highway between Edmonton and Calgary near Leduc, sending over 300 people to the hospital and causing what Alberta Health Services are treating as "a mass casualty event."

Reports on social media indicate hundreds of cars, transport trucks and buses ended up smashed and scattered across both directions of the highway, with many vehicles being violently tossed around or landing in ditches.

Unsurprisingly, Royal Canadian Mounted Police are blaming blowing snow, icy road conditions and poor visibility for the countless crash pileups. Emergency services reports suggest roughly 300 people were taken to hospital and about 100 of those patients required further medical attention. Fortunately, there's been no reports of any fatalities thus far, though crash victims were transported to nearby hospitals for various injuries.

"Several vehicles and a tractor trailer are off the road and in the ditch due to slippery road conditions," said Leduc RCMP constable Tim Gaultois, adding it will be sometime before the full extent of the carnage is known. The numerous collisions also forced police to shut down the main highway and divert traffic to alternate routes, creating traffic chaos and lengthy lines for many Alberta drivers. Scroll down to watch a Reuters video news report.

Continue reading Massive Alberta highway pileup sends 300 people to hospital after crash

Massive Alberta highway pileup sends 300 people to hospital after crash originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you see a road sign doing this, run for cover

Jonathon Ramsey — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 12:32:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Videos, Canada

Everyone knows that highway signs aren't supposed to bounce like they just remembered the lyrics to "Jump Around" by House of Pain. But this particular sign across a highway in Calgary, Alberta, Canada doesn't care about your so-called common knowledge.

A storm that brought some serious wind sent this crossbar into gyrations so severe that cars began changing lanes to get out of the way. And if you watch all the way to the end of the short video, you'll see they had good reason.

Scroll down to watch the scary stuff.

Continue reading If you see a road sign doing this, run for cover

If you see a road sign doing this, run for cover originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 20 Aug 2012 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Canadian campaign bus livery causes pointed controversy

Zach Bowman — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:31:00 EST

Filed under: Truck, Etc., Government/Legal, Celebrities, Canada, Humor

Our neighbors to the north do scandal a little differently. According to The National Post and The Globe and Mail, political candidate Danielle Smith and her tour bus has aroused some controversy thanks to a pair of ill-placed wheels on her campaign wheels. Smith is campaigning in the Alberta election as a member of the right-wing, liberterian Wildrose Party, and while her staffers initially approved the bus design, they didn't notice any issue with the portrait's placement early on. Then Twitter jumped in. It wasn't long before the image of the bus was bouncing around the internet and collecting laughs.

Early this week, the campaign announced it would, in fact, change the design to reduce distraction as much as possible. The change likely won't come cheap, however. A full-size wrap like the one on Smith's tour bus can cost more than $10,000.

While Wildrose party leaders have hinted the dust up wouldn't have occurred if the candidate had been male, independent evaluators have found the election to be gender-neutral so far.

Canadian campaign bus livery causes pointed controversy originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Canadian cancer patient wins Koenigsegg, opts for cash instead

Noah Joseph — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:38:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Supercars, Earnings/Financials, Canada

Click for hi-res gallery from Autoblog's first drive of the Koenigsegg CCX

If you won a lottery that offered you million-dollar supercar or a large cash prize, which would you take? Okay, well you might be a little biased if you're reading Autoblog. So let's make this a little more challenging: what if you lived in a town with no paved roads like Norman Wells (population: 761), some 690 kilometers northwest of Yellowknife in Canada's Northwest Territories, where Louie Edgi lives with his family.

Edgi bought ten tickets for the Alberta Cash and Cars Lottery, which was giving away a Koenigsegg CCX and supports local cancer research funds, on a trip down from his northerly home-town to Edmonton, Alberta, (still considered ridiculously close to the North Pole for the rest of the world, including this Canadian-born writer) to undergo cancer treatment. Since getting the car home would have required a long trip up a winter ice road - a prospect that apparently hasn't caught on in the Northwest Territories as it has in Koenigsegg's home country of Sweden - Edgi opted for the cash instead, and is reportedly feeling a lot better about his treatment now.

Gallery: Autoblog Drives the Koenigsegg CCX

[Source: CBC News via Jalopnik]

Canadian cancer patient wins Koenigsegg, opts for cash instead originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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