Castor Volunteer Fire Rescue, Emergency Medical Services, and officers from the Coronation RCMP detachment responded to a two-vehicle car accident at the entrance to town just after 5 p.m. on Aug. 10.
According to reports, a Hyundai Santa Fe was attempting to turn accross Highway 12 at the corner by the White Goose restaurant when another vehicle collided with it that was headed westbound on Highway 12. A white Jeep Cherokee ended up impacting a power pole across from the Town of Castor sign with such force that the pole needed to be reinforced.
RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Lacey Blair says that a driver and a passenger from each vehicle were transported to hospital for assessment and subsequently released with no significant injuries reported. According to Blair, neither speed, drugs nor alcohol appeared to play a factor in the accident.
Shannon Ewalt, assistant manager at the restaurant, feels that people need to be safer at the intersection with people regularly speeding through the 50 km/h zone and not stopping at the north and south stop signs.
“Lot’s of times, we see people roll right through,” said Ewalt.
“Everyone is so complacent. I don’t honestly know what to do about it.”
According to Ewalt, it is rare if her and the staff at the restaurant don’t notice a near-miss at the intersection at least once every two to three days. Ewalt says that even the coffee crowd that comes in watches the window and always make comments regarding people using the stop signs as yield signs.
Ewalt feels that more police enforcement would help, however the issue with that is the area surrounding the intersection is so open there is no place for the police to monitor the intersection unseen.
“It’s a bad spot,” said Ewalt.