Christy Clark and Mary Polak just made a huge critical error, I can`t believe how stupid this out going Government is, actually I can believe how stupid they are, Christy Clark`s handlers must be the dumbest people on earth..
Yesterday the Port Mann crown corporation admitted the sub-contractors de-icing was insufficient, they admitted the bridge turned into a skating rink after the last road check by the contractor..
They told the public the contractor was going to apply more stronger de-icing and more often than every 48 hours...Here is the Thursday statement from the Transportation investment corporation..
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Port Mann Bridge not sufficiently de-iced
40 vehicles involved in crashes, according to police
Officials say the new Port Mann
Bridge — which saw a slew of accidents Thursday morning, including one
10-car pile-up — wasn't sufficiently de-iced.
Max Logan with the Transportation Investment Corporation, the company
that runs the bridge, said the brine solution used to de-ice the bridge
wasn't strong enough.The solution should have lasted about 48 hours, but it stopped being effective at about 5 a.m. PT.
Logan said the bridge was monitored six times between 10 p.m. Wednesday and 5 a.m. Thursday, and the ice built up some time between 5 and 6 a.m.
However, that was just one factor that led to the accidents which backed up traffic in both directions during the morning commute.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/01/03/bc-port-mann-delays.html
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Now Friday evening, BC Liberal`s take-out-the-trash-day, Mary Polak and the BC Government pull a 180 degree u-turn and put all the blame on the drivers, Mary Polak`s statement was not only rude in tone but was legally very weak..
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BC`s transportation minister says the 40 drivers involved in the mayhem on the Port Mann bridge on Thursday will not be forgiven their tolls or given compensation because the bridge maintenance contractor did nothing wrong.
Mary Polak said the Government reviewed the work of Mainland Contracting, which has a contract with Transportation Investment Corp to maintain the Port Mann bridge and found it was not negligent. She said Mainland followed the standard procedure and applied a saltwater brine at 4:00 am January 2nd.
Which was expected to be effective for 48 hours---and did "vigorous" patrols between 10p.m. and 5 a.m. on Thursday.
“There’s nothing they’ve done that they were negligent in,” Polak said. “There’s nothing with respect to what they did that they could have predicted what did happen with any certainty.”
Polak’s comments come a day after TI Corp. — the Crown agency that operates the provincially owned bridge — said that despite the measures taken by Mainroad, there was insufficient.........
Polak argues that neither the province nor the contractor is responsible for the crashes, because there’s nothing to indicate they were related to the design of the bridge. She said Thursday’s situation involves a combination of factors, including black ice, dense fog at the time of the crash and faster speeds on the bridge.
Kevin Dahl, who was travelling westbound across the bridge at about 5:40 a.m., said he slowed down after encountering thick fog as he approached the crest of the bridge. Dahl, who was in the HOV lane, said he had already passed a pileup involving 10 to 15 cars and was travelling below the speed limit when he first noticed the brake lights in the fog. As he coasted toward them, he noticed more lights and started to brake, but it caused him to fishtail.
“I fishtailed for probably 200 feet before I got into my accident,” he said. “There was someone who had stopped right beside the HOV lane. Right near the end I tried to turn right, but I had no traction so I started sliding sideways and hit guy in the middle of the trunk.”
As he got to out to see if the driver was OK, Dahl started sliding on the deck and almost fell over. “I couldn’t believe how icy the bridge was,” he said.
Insurance Corp. of B.C. spokesman Adam Grossman said he expects about 40 claims to be filed.
Polak argues that neither the province nor the contractor is responsible for the crashes, because there’s nothing to indicate they were related to the design of the bridge. She said Thursday’s situation involves a combination of factors, including black ice, dense fog at the time of the crash and faster speeds on the bridge.
“People are able to reach speeds on the bridge at rush hour they never were before,” Polak said. “As with any type of crash, there’s a number of different causes and issues at play. This is unfortunately just the kind of circumstance people encounter on the road ... chain reactions result in large numbers of claims.”
She said the black ice is a reminder that winter driving conditions are here, and motorists should be prepared.
Mainroad, which has a contract with TI Corp. to maintain the Port Mann Bridge as well as Highway 1 from 200 Street in Langley to McGill Street in Vancouver, said Thursday it was instructed not to speak with the media.
TI Corp. spokesman Max Logan said Mainroad won the bid for the contract, which stipulated that it would prevent the accumulation of ice on the road and bridge.
Mainroad also has a multi-year contract with the province to maintain provincial roads and bridges, including the Lion’s Gate Bridge and Massey Tunnel, as well as TransLink’s Pattullo, Knight Street and Westham Island bridges.
TransLink spokesman Drew Snider said there were no problems with TransLink’s bridges Thursday. The Golden Ears Bridge, which is maintained by a separate company, was wet but not frozen, he said, but noted it didn’t have the same fog as the PortMann bridge
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Pileup+Port+Mann+Bridge+blamed+drivers+contractor/7777925/story.html
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So what happened between yesterday and today?.....Well, I have two names for you.....
Bill Good and Sean Leslie came to rescue the BC Liberals...Both of them, first Sean Leslie Thursday afternoon filling in for Jon Malcom`s 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm slot then Billy Good today on his program..
Mary Polak`s comments and statements in tonight`s Vancouver Sun article echos exactly what many staged callers said on both Billy Good`s and Sean Leslie`s radio program, in fact Billy Good downplayed maintenance on the bridge and blamed drivers on the cutting edge of the ledge and then a half hour(11:00 am to 11:30 am) a whole segment where Billy Good was asking callers to agree with his uninformed opinion that it was the drivers fault..Billy Good was very forceful and leading, and two callers on Billy Good`s show, and one caller on Sean Leslie`s Thursday show all made this ridiculous claim, a claim Mary Polak is echoing exactly, without a stitch of proof.
“People are able to reach speeds on the bridge at rush hour they never were before,” Polak said...
Whoever is advising the BC Liberals is stunned, and I am putting out a request to any and all lawyers who might be prepared to launch a class action suit on behalf of these victimized drivers against the BC Liberal Government and or the De-icing contractor(Mainland)
There was only 1 minor injury, there are roughly 40 damaged auto claims, these drivers will be out deductibles and their insurance rates will rise, and they will have a permanent blemish on their driving records..
Hey Christy Clark, if you would have just stayed quiet, if you would have given these drivers(and witnesses) a fair-shake, paid the ICBC claims this whole ordeal would`ve disappeared...PortMannGate scandal would have gone away, but now you just pissed in everyone`s cornflakes, for what, when a bridge is so slippery that even just standing on the road deck you start sliding, sliding on their feet..
The bridge deck was a sheet of ice, no one was charged with speeding, you have no proof of what speed anyone was traveling, you Mary Polak just opened up a big can of worms..
Months of bad press, months of bad BC Liberal press because you refused to make whole 40 damaged cars, instead you insulted every driver on the road with a condescending attitude..
One more thing Mary Polak(didn`t they teach you anything at Molly Maid Mary Polak?), there is enough evidence in your statements and statements from the Transportation investment corp to make law suits against Government a slam dunk..
P.S.....Billy Good...Sean Leslie, you guys really blew it this time, bad advice to Government, instead of playing the bad driver gambit, instead of obeying your political masters, you should have tried to talk the BC Liberals off their verbal diarrhea cliff.....The NDP says thanks..
The Straight Goods
Cheers Eyes Wide Open
8 comments:
de icing which is to last 48 hrs. Who the hell are they trying to fool? The stuff would be driven off by the thousands of cars which go over the bridge. It wuold be splashed by rain, diluted by watery fog. The company simply did not put enough salt on the bridge, period! They want to blame the drivers? Get a grip. There have been other winters with ice on the old Port Mann Bridge & when there was no traffic cars clipped a long at the speed limit or over. No accidents. Why? Bridge properly salted.
Pollack & co. had better come up with a better one than the drivers were going to fast. Bridges have had the same conditions on them before & cars have been doing the speed limit or over & not crashed because they were in better condition. Face it they cheaped out on the salting. Companies which "maintain" highways need to make a profit. They only way they can do it is to cut corners.
If ICBC doesn't cover this at no cost to the drivers, I smell class action law suit. The bridge is a failure. The lieberals are too stupid to even tell the truth.
Brine, we are not pickling pigs' feet here people. Maybe you should try more salt, some sand & see what happens. It might be more expensive than water & a bit of salt but the drivers will not have as many accidents. I wonder if anyone took a sample of what was on the bridge at the time to check for the correct chemical mix, if they used any.
http://blogborgcollective.blogspot.ca/
For those in the so called "accidents" on the Port Mann, here is a link first to read and then to download and submit your your claims for damanges.
Why only problems with ice on one bridge when the same contractor manages maintenance on several bridges.
This matter, along with the ice falling last month that resulted in what,two hundred claims or something? This is fast becoming a major public safety issue.
A class action suit by anyone and everyone who has purchased a toll package along with every other British Columbian whose tax dollars funded this debacle.
When purchasing a toll packge there was NO LANGUAGE inside that packge which stipulates the bridge cannot be used safely year round. Now suddenly the bridge cannot be used safely year round.
This is a clear breach of contract not only with the toll bridge supplier (TREO) but the contractor who buitl this thing and the government who spent our money and now makes nothing but lame excuses for the problems.
Fisrt off a person would have to be insane to assume Bill Good in anywhere near qualified to speak on these matters, he should just keep his ill concieved thoughts off the airwaves, i say this as much for you Bill as anyone as you are setting yourself up for legal matters you don't even want to think about.
This Mary Polak is a situation not only where the bridge is squarely your responsibility but you are"charging a toll" from the public for it's use. Along with that toll goes a liability to you and a responsibility to ensure safe passage.Think, if you were on a ferry that sinks because of neglect.
The fact that you are charging this toll changes everything about the game.
Thes people should be made whole at least to where they were before that event, toll reimburssed, insurance intact, no deductables etc. otherwise lawsuits will follow.
Ahhh.....! Bill Good, Sean Leslie, the 'All-Canadian Apple Pie Boys', Mary Polak, the disaster of a Minister no matter what Ministry she has, who shakes and shudders at the name Lalonde. This arrogant, Bible thumping Minister who cost the taxpayers of Surrey millions fighting over a textbook for kids. The woman is a total failure and arrogant to boot. What is her claim to fame? Nothing, who voted for this person? Shame, shame, start the Class Action, get it going! Then get these fools out of office in May
We have been putting up with the poor service by mainroad here on the island for years. They seem to think that unless there is 3 inches of snow on the Island highway you ignore it. Hope it will wash away. Ice well you ignore it till 7 in the morning, too bad for any that have to travel before hand. Last snow the highway wasn't good until about 10 am. Money saver is all it can be.
I would think that the tolls fall under promissory estoppels laws.
REPRESENTATION, RELIANCE, DETRIMENT. Remember these three words;
A certain set of facts are represented to you.
Relying on that representation you purchase a toll package.
You drive over the bridge and then suffer a detriment. You are owed compensation.
Same goes for the government. The bridge builder and the maintenance contractor represented a set of facts about building and maintaining this bridge and highway access.
Looking at the overview this way, all British Columbians have suffered a detriment. 3 billion dollars and the bridge can only be used SAFELY in three seasons so far.
Seems like a 25% percent reduction in safe usage. We want a refund and compensation for harm.
So there I was, peacefully having breakfast. Ham and eggs it were, and I was going great guns until I took a bite which tasted like fish. Not just any fish, it tasted like fishy fish. You know, the kind you get served sometimes in a restaurant and just quietly put down your knife and fork, pay your bill and leave. It was all I could to keep from hurling as I spat it out and washed my mouth.
Then for some reason I thought of our government. Coincidence? I don't think so. Anyway, the eggs are going out in the trash. God, I can still taste them!
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