Trucker attacked

[Cybergal]

Trucker attacked, robbed at dark highway turnoff

3/20/08
CBC.ca, Canada

A trucker who was robbed and assaulted on the side of an Alberta highway says there needs to be lights and cameras at roadside turnouts to protect drivers.
Lea Ann Davies is still shaken but hopes her story will help keep other drivers safe, she said in an interview with CBC News on Thursday.
Davies, 41, had parked her transport truck at a roadside turnout off the Queen Elizabeth II Highway near Leduc, south of Edmonton, at about 12:40 a.m. for a routine check of her tires.

A vehicle, believed to be an older, dark-coloured Chrysler minivan, parked behind her truck, she said. The driver then grabbed Davies by the neck and demanded money.
"I had $40 in my pocket, and I held it up in the air so he could see it," said Davies from her Calgary home. "He grabbed the money, gave me a shove forward and hit me in the neck with a pipe."
The only description she could give police was that her attacker was wearing a blue plaid work jacket.

"After I realized what happened, when I was leaning against my trailer, I could hardly stand up. That's when I threw up, shaking," she said, with bruises and swelling still visible on her neck.
An ambulance took Davies to the Leduc hospital and she was released an hour later.

Looking back, the trucker said there was little she could have done to prevent the attack but she said there should be lights and cameras installed at roadside turnouts so all drivers are safe when they pull over.
Heather McLachlan, spokeswoman for Alberta Transportation, agreed there needs to be better lighting but rejected the idea of installing cameras.

"What we're looking at is installing more lights at our larger roadside turnouts and in large part, the lighting is a security measure that helps improve the security of motorists in and outside the vehicle," she said Thursday.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/st...er-robbed.html

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[myminpins]

Why would you stop in the middle of nowhere in the dark just to check your tires????? Especially if you are a female??? Go to the next turn off or off ramp - there's almost always a streetlight or three there and lots of room if you're careful. Or better yet, go to the nearest town and find a gas station or something. Sheesh!!! You don't stop in the middle of the night in the dark on the highway THEN get out of your truck if you are a female and alone. Ugh!!!!

I'm glad she's okay. Thank goodness he didn't hit her in the head instead of the neck or she might not be around to tell the story.

[Muleskinner]

Yet another case where if honest folks were allowed to carry weapons the ending could have read quite a bit different.

[Cabhappygal]

Well - maybe she stopped because she felt while driving that she had a problem with the tires. Give her a little credit, heh?