A still from dash cam footage belonging to Ian Burgess, who nearly collided with an oncoming vehicle on the QEII on Monday. (Supplied/Ian Burgess)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

they were going the wrong way!

Dash cam records close call for Calgary man on QEII near Red Deer

Feb 20, 2020 | 4:26 PM

A paramedic from Calgary is lucky to have walked away unscathed following a scary incident on the QEII Highway this week.

It was about 4 a.m. Monday morning when Ian Burgess was making his regular trip north to his job in Tofield.

Burgess, whose dash cam captured the whole thing, passed over the Red Deer River near the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and that’s when disaster had to be averted.

“There’s a curve to the right there, and I always expect that curve to be icy, so I was extra aware and looking around. Then I noticed there was a vehicle heading south without its lights on,” the 36-year-old recalls.

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“I was in the fast lane and (eventually) was able to see that he was actually on my side of the highway — and at first a whole bunch of thoughts went through my head like maybe it’s someone who went through the wrong exit and they’ll stay on that side, or that it was someone who just forgot to put their headlights on.”

That’s when both vehicles — headed toward each other — both moved into the outside northbound lane, which forced Burgess to swerve into the ditch.

“I knew that braking was a bad idea because I’d end up losing control, so I looked over to the ditch and it wasn’t until after I was in it that I stated braking and somehow was able to keep control.”

Burgess turned around and squared back up with the highway before seeing the same vehicle that he’d almost collided with going back the other way — now northbound in the northbound lanes.

Somehow, both he and his truck got out of the situation with little or no damage.

“I’ve got a kiddo, so I called his mom and I asked her to tell him to call me when he gets up because I wanted to tell him that I love him,” says Burgess, who took a job-related refresher course in safe driving just last month.

“Be vigilant, expect the unexpected, and take your defensive driving course.”

RCMP confirm to rdnewsNOW that the other vehicle was stolen from Calgary, and that the driver was fleeing from police when they nearly hit Burgess.

The stolen vehicle was located a few hours later in Red Deer. Police are searching for a suspect, but have no description.

RCMP add that it appears a second vehicle was also forced off the road sometime before or after the incident involving Burgess.