‘It was a total whiteout’: Huron County duo recount near miss as blizzard warning blankets region

With more bad weather in the way, an Exeter couple recounts a recent near miss crash with a transport covered in snow. Scott Miller reports.

Michelle LaCharite and Jean Irvin watched helplessly as the SUV they were driving in was delicately pulled from a ditch near Grand Bend on Jan. 29.

The pair were driving to an early morning exercise class when they were passed by a transport truck on Dashwood Road.

“He swerved around us and as he went by us, all the snow from the top of the transport truck fell on top of our car. And we basically could see nothing. It was a total whiteout,” recalled LaCharite, who was in the passenger seat.

As a result of the sudden whiteout, Irvin and LaCharite ended up in the ditch, narrowly avoiding a tree. They called CAA, who sent a tow truck from Hensall to pull them out, but they were rattled.

“I think the transport truck…it was so big that it basically pushed us off that narrow Dashwood Road into the ditch, and so the force of the truck passing, and then all the snow on top of us just sent us down the embankment. It was scary,” they said.

With a blizzard warning stretching from Dresden to Wingham Friday and into the weekend, LaCharite and Irvin want their experience to be a warning for motorists to be patient and kind during less-than-ideal driving conditions.

“If I’m ever behind anyone who’s going slowly because of the weather, I just stay behind them and I realize that it’s sloppy conditions. The weather may not be great, so it’s only going to be a few more minutes till I get to my destination. That is one thing I want to pass on; not only big transport truck drivers, but any drivers, this is the time of year when we encounter this, and I think we just have to be a little more patient,” they said.

LaCharite and Irvin added, “If you see someone in the ditch, it could be one of your loved ones, so just try and find out if they’re okay. Which both of the good Samaritans who stopped for us did. They checked to make sure we weren’t injured and our car was still running. We had heat, and Jean had the very good idea to go back and check the exhaust pipe to make sure it wasn’t blocked by snow because it was so cold.”

Police say they see stories like this daily during inclement weather, and add drivers have a responsibility to clean off their vehicles no matter how big or tall they are and only pass when it is safe to do so.

“Be safe, be patient on the roadways. Please reduce your speed when the weather gets bad,” said Huron OPP Const. Craig Soldan.

Emergency officials expect road closures across parts of midwestern Ontario Friday night with blowing snow, blizzards, and extreme cold warnings for parts of the region.