A Red Deer cab driver remains in hospital after being involved in a highway crash that claimed the life of a suspected impaired driver early Saturday morning.
Associated Cab owner Darryl Frenette said the 41-year-old man is in “pretty bad shape” at the intensive care unit inside Calgary’s Foothills Hospital.
The cabbie was transporting three occupants in a van when a collision occurred with a vehicle on Hwy 2A, about five km north of Red Deer, just before 3 a.m.
Red Deer rural RCMP say a man in his mid 20s was driving a vehicle when it crossed the centre line and into the path of the van.
That man was killed.
Police say the young man may have consumed alcohol.
Frenette said the cab driver has worked with Associated Cab for nine years.
“He’s a leader among drivers and has a really good work ethic,” he said. “People seek him out for advice.”
Frenette also said the man is a trained negotiator.
Alberta Gold Taxi and Associated Cab are a close-knit bunch, Frenette added.
Drivers are pitching in with money to help the man’s family.
Frenette hopes to visit the driver in hospital. He understands the man has a left broken femur and multiple fractures below both knees.
ltester@www.reddeeradvocate.com