Motorcyclist crushed by logs in Whistler, B.C. crash
Highway 99 was closed in both directions in the Nordic subdivision area
A motorcyclist died in Whistler, B.C., after he was crushed by the load of a logging truck that lost control and overturned on Highway 99.
Whistler RCMP Sgt. Steve LeClair said the accident happened just before 2:30 p.m. in the Nordic subdivision, between Whistler Village and Creekside.
The logging truck was travelling southbound when it overturned at a bend in the road. A northbound motorcyclist was in the path of the logs as they spilled off the truck and onto the roadway.
The motorcycle rider, a 65-year-old West Vancouver man, was pronounced dead at Whistler Health Care Centre.
The driver of the logging truck was taken to hospital with undetermined injuries.
The logging truck also struck a northbound vehicle, whose occupants were taken Whistler Health Care Centre "as a precautionary measure," LeClair said.
"Highway 99 is currently closed in both directions and will be for quite some time as the scene is examined by investigators. Traffic is being routed through a nearby subdivision," he said Saturday afternoon.
DriveBC estimated that the highway would stay closed until at least 10 p.m. PT Saturday, or even midnight..
Police and investigators from B.C.'s Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement office will try to determine what caused the logging truck to lose control.
"These sorts of accidents are terrible when they do happen and, you know, we just hope that they don't," Whistler RCMP spokesman Sgt. Rob Knapton said. "That's what these rules are in place for as far as how the vehicles operate and load, and that's why we have the CVSE team coming up to look to determine whether or not it was being operating within the legislation."
