Fishing line strung across Langford roadways
RCMP, Victoria Police Department say cyclists in particular are being put at risk
Police on Vancouver Island this weekend removed over 100 feet of fishing line that had been strung across roads in Langford, B.C., that posed a risk to road users — and cyclists in particular.
One woman called RCMP Sunday morning after she drove her vehicle through a section of line that had been strung across Hull Road at Jenkins Avenue.
West Shore RCMP Cpl. Kathy Rochlitz said that while officers were in the area to take a look, a second person came up and said that more fishing line had also been strung up just down the road — this time near near the roundabout on Glen Lake Road at Alouette Drive.
"It is fortunate that no one was injured by this act as the fish line was strung at the height that would impact a person riding a bike," Rochlitz said, in a written statement.
The Victoria Police Department is also investigating a similar incident from just over a week ago, involving fishing line and a bike route.
On June 21, a caller phoned police to report that she has encountered fishing line strung across the 1200 block of Kings Road that evening.
"Concerned that passing cyclists would not be able to see the fishing line and be endangered, she removed it," a statement from Victoria police said.
Police said that almost a year ago, a cyclist was injured four blocks from that spot — at Prior Street and Kings Road — after riding into black electrical tape that had been tied across the street.
"It is unclear if these two incidents are related but that will form part of the investigation," the Victoria Police Department said. "In the meantime, members of the public are encouraged to cycle with proper helmets and lights and to use increased diligence while riding in the Kings Road area."
String of dangerous incidents
Last summer, just to the north in Saanich, B.C., a mountain biker was injured after he rode into a steel cable strung strung between two trees in Gowlland Tod Park.
In that incident, police determined that the wire had been in the woods for decades, but officers weren't sure who pulled it across the path, or why.
Other parts of Canada have seen very similar dangerous situations in the past few years, with near-dire consequences in some cases.
In one incident in 2010, an Edmonton woman suffered cuts to her face and neck after she rode her bicycle into a fishing line strung across a bike path in Rundle Park.
Then, in 2012, an ATV rider said he was almost decapitated after driving into barbed wire strung across a disputed path outside Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
And in April 2013, police in Thunder Bay arrested a 22-year-old man who admitted he strung fishing line between trees across a multi-use pathway at Boulevard Lake Park, and said he intended it as a prank.
No one was injured, but police said five lines were found, each of which that could have been seriously injured or killed someone.
- EDMONTON | Cyclist cut by fishing line on Edmonton trail
- NOVA SCOTIA | ATV run-in with barbed wire leads to charges
- THUNDER BAY | Police arrest 'remorseful' fishing line prankster
Both the West Shore RCMP and the Victoria Police Department are asking anyone who knows anything about the recent incidents on Vancouver Island, or who knows of other, unreported, incidents to contact police.