Editor: This letter was submitted to the newly elected UCP MLA for Banff-Kananaskis.
Dear Miranda Rosin:
I was in collision with an elk on Highway 1 on Feb. 28.
I am anxious to talk to someone in a position of authority about my experience, as I strongly believe that it is only a matter of time before there is a human fatality.
I am still recovering from my physical injuries and I also have post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the collision.
My huge Dodge Durango was written off in the crash. Imagine what would have happened if I had been driving a smaller car? Yes, I would be dead.
The driver of another car, quarter of a kilometre behind me was taken to hospital. Four cars hit elk that night.
We Albertans have a responsibility to protect the millions of tourists who visit the area in the summer and they will be arriving en masse soon. Tourists and visitors to the area do not know that an elk herd is living on the highway. I certainly was not aware of it.
The provincial government of Alberta must: immediately position electronic signs warning of the life-threatening danger; lower the speed limit; build restraining fences along the section of highway; long-term, build an elk bridge over the highway.
Apathy is unacceptable.
I advise you that should there be a fatality I will do everything in my power to shout loudly, to any media that will listen, that there would be a fatality.
The Rocky Mountain Outlook newspaper has been featuring the photograph of my car on the highway at the scene of the crash since the day of my collision.
The next photograph and headline could be reporting death of a human. Elk don’t sue, but families of dead humans do.
The impact on tourism to the area would be significant.
The impact to Canada’s reputation would be immeasurable. As a brand new Canadian Citizen, this concerns me as Canada is my home. I love it here.
The town of Canmore has been aware that there have been weekly elk collisions since September 2018 and so has the Province. Seven more elk were hit and killed at the end of April. This is completely unacceptable.
Please take immediate action.
Fiona Coldridge,
Calgary
