The video of the towing of a car that passed a few meters from a fall on the ground during snow removal in Montreal earlier this week puts the City of Montreal in embarrassment.
The subcontractor of a company hired by the City of Montreal proceeded during a snow removal operation to move a vehicle near the intersection of Center and Island streets, in the Pointe-Saint-Charles district, “Monday or Tuesday”, according to our information.
The least we can say is that the maneuver was not done in the delicacy, according to a video of the scene posted on the social network Reddit, which went viral in the space of a few hours.
We can see the car, visibly poorly attached to the tow truck, moving forwards and backwards, passing very close to falling from the truck, while motorists honk their horns, obviously in an attempt to alert the tug.
“Even the way the car was loaded was poorly done,” says Juan Henriquez, owner of the Henriquez garage, who witnessed the situation. He nevertheless deplored the fact that the owner of the car was blocking the snow removal operation.
“A few meters” from a fall
This towing was not done in accordance with the law, denounces the Association of Professional Troubleshooting of Quebec.
” [Le remorqueur] was lucky because a few meters further the vehicle would have tipped completely off the platform. The risk was very great […] and that could have caused injuries to pedestrians, ”says its Chairman and CEO, Réjean Breton.
He believes that the tug ignored no less than “four steps” prescribed by law, including the front and rear securing of the vehicle and the installation of tensioning instruments.
“It does not meet the level of training required by the Committee on Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work [CNESST] », He thunders.
” Not acceptable “
Informed of the event by Le Journal, the City of Montreal did not like what it saw.
“The situation illustrated does not comply with good towing practices and what is expected of contractors, reacted Gabrielle Fontaine-Rioux, communications officer. Not only can the car be broken, there is a real risk of an accident. “
For its part, the Sud-Ouest borough contacted the company responsible for the subcontracting company for the towing to tell it that the operation was “not acceptable”.
“The borough has requested that it be sent a summary of the discussions that will take place with the towing company, as well as the actions that will be put in place to prevent this type of situation from happening again,” indicated Hugo Bourgoi, public relations officer for the City.
“The City may well ensure that the company that tendered is well investigated, if it does not ensure that the subcontractor is also trained, situations like that happen, believes Mr. Breton for his part. Is the subcontractor paid at low cost? Perhaps that is why he will provide the service based on the remuneration he has. “