Many drivers have a road they know they should probably avoid. These are the stretches where accidents always seem to happen, no matter the weather or time of day. Even if they’re the quickest route through to wherever, they tend to be avoided because the extra time on a different road is worth the added peace of mind.
Grads of dispatch courses know there’s no shortage of these roads in Canada, but there are also a few that stand out as being particularly bad. Want to get acquainted with them? Here are some of the worst offenders in Canada.
Highway 63 Is 240 Kilometers of Albertan Danger
Getting to Fort McMurray is a treacherous thing when you take Highway 63. For a long time, it was a two-lane, undivided highway that was full of slow-moving, enormous trucks transporting equipment or product to and from the oilsands. Year-round impatience from drivers has led to quite a number of head-on collisions from attempts at passing the vehicles ahead, and there have been many deaths and injuries on this road in recent years. Fortunately, a long-running project to twin the highway has finally been completed, hopefully changing the fortunes of those who drive down this road.
The good news is that most dispatchers will never need to worry about this road, since Fort McMurray is well out of the way. The bad news is that grads of dispatcher schools who have routes to and from Fort McMurray, and particularly the ones who work in the Albertan petroleum industry, are likely to find this road unavoidable. For these individuals, working with drivers and ensuring they follow company safety policies is important to keeping them safe.
Nova Scotia’s Highway 103 Has Long Been a Dangerous Place to Drive
Nova Scotia’s Highway 103 has built a well-deserved reputation for danger. Between 2008 and 2012, 22 people died while driving this road, which also has undivided stretches where it is only two lanes wide. Though there are plans to twin this highway as well, the funds were only recently secured by the government, meaning completion won’t arrive for some time.
As with Highway 63, the fact that Highway 103 isn’t in the middle of prime commercial or shipping territory means that many dispatchers won’t need to worry much about this road. With accidents on this highway sometimes leading to closures lasting as long as a day, count yourself lucky that you probably won’t need to worry about re-routing to get your drivers around this highway!
The 401 Is North America’s Busiest Highway—And Quite Dangerous, Too
Ontario’s Highway 401 is constantly backed up with traffic, despite the fact that it is already 6 lanes in some areas and there are plans to expand it to 6, 8, and even 10 lanes for several stretches. The sheer length of the highway—828 kilometers—and the volume of its traffic, though, mean that the odds of an accident occurring somewhere along its length are always pretty high.
Despite this, new dispatch course graduates who wind up with routes that pass along this road should count themselves lucky that they get to work with the 401 as it is now. An 87 car pileup occurred in 1999, resulting in eight deaths and 45 injuries. This kicked off a renovation plan that has seen wider shoulders, rumble strips, and additional lanes installed, as well as a greater police presence on the highway. As bad as this highway is now, it’s far better than it used to be.
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