A wildlife encounter on Highway 1A near Glendale Road has left Rocky View Regional Handibus with a rattled passenger and a permanently dead vehicle.
On the afternoon of Nov. 26, the westbound wheelchair-accessible minivan from Rocky View Regional Handibus Society was returning a passenger to Cochrane. They encountered a deer that leapt out of the ditch. Driver and passenger suffered no serious injuries during the collision.
“We just sent the report to the insurance company but I suspect the airbag deployment makes this vehicle a complete writeoff,” said general manager, Paul Siller. “The passenger in the front seat was a little rattled by the experience and the driver suffered a sore wrist ... but otherwise, the occupants are fine.”
The loss of the vehicle creates a challenge for the non-profit group.
“We don’t have any spare vehicles in the minivan size,” explained Siller. “The growth in transportation demand pushes us to use everything available. When you operate on a shoestring, you have minimal resources left for when things go wrong. It will be difficult for us to accommodate booking requests over the next several months.”
A registered charity, Rocky View Regional Handibus Society provides service to seven municipalities in the Rocky View region with a combined population of 87,000 residents. Municipalities are asked to contribute to the availability of the service on a per-capita rate. Passengers pay $4 for every kilometre of travel. Except for lottery grants, the province does not contribute to operation of the service.
Fundraising will take 18 to 24 months. A new replacement vehicle is about $61,000.
