Paint truck wipeout snarls Trans-Canada, damages vehicles

A truck hauling paint spilled part of its load at around noon on July 19, coating the Trans-Canada Highway with white paint, which damaged vehicles and closed the highway for an hour and a half.

The incident happened about 30 kilometres west of Revelstoke.

Photo: Revelstoke RCMP

Cpl. Thomas Blakney of the Revelstoke RCMP said the driver hit his brakes to avoid rear-ending the truck in front of him, which had slowed due to congestion.

About 60 19-litre buckets of white drywall paint toppled off the truck, coating the entire highway. Several vehicles then drove through the mess, causing damage as the paint sprayed up and coated the cars.

Photo: Revelstoke RCMP

Crews dumped sand on the highway to sop up the paint and were still working on the cleanup into the evening.

“Although the Trans-Canada Highway is opened, flagging crews are currently on scene and will remain so until the highway is cleaned up,” said Cpl. Blakney in a statement. “Motorists are asked to proceed with caution as they pass through this area and obey the flaggers as well as the traffic control devices in place.”

The driver of the truck was ticketed for having an insecure load.