BC saw six fatal incidents across several provincial highways in the last five days.
The last of which happened around 1AM this morning (Monday) on Highway 97 south of Prince George.
According to the North District RCMP, a pick-up truck crossed the centre line between 15 Mile and Buckhorn Lake Roads, hit a semi-truck, and the driver died as a result of injuries.
OPEN – #BCHwy97 – south of #CityofPG between 15 Mile Rd and Buckhorn Lake Rd is now operating at single lane alternating traffic. Expect delays and congestion. https://t.co/AZQe63jBFt #PrinceGeorgeBC
— Drive BC (@DriveBC) December 3, 2018
Corporal Mike Halskov with RCMP Traffic Services says it’s abnormal to see that many fatalities in such a short span.
“But it’s not all that uncommon to have three or four fatals a week. We didn’t notice any commonalities between any of these crashes and I think, in all cases, the road and weather conditions were particularly good.”
The following is a list of where the other fatal accidents occurred this week:
- Thursday, November 29th = Highway 29 north of Chetwynd
- Friday, November 30th = Highway 1 in Lytton
- Saturday, December 1st = Highway 1 in North Vancouver
- Sunday, December 2nd = Highway 99 north of Squamish
- Sunday, December 2nd = Highway 1 west of Salmon Arm
Though he couldn’t provide a specific date and time, Halskov explained this scenario has already happened earlier this year.
“There was a span over a long weekend where there was a number of fatalities over for three days as well. So these clusters do occur, but spread out over the entire year, it’s not uncommon for British Columbia to have anywhere from 270 to as many of 300 fatalities a year on highways.”
He believes most of the recent string of crashes involved alcohol or driver-error, but police continue to investigate.
RCMP once again remind drivers, as winter approaches, to switch tires with more tread on them and to have an emergency kit on hand in case the worst happens.