Weekend crashes cause havoc on B.C. roads as cold front arrives
Highway 1 west of Revelstoke, B.C. closed Saturday for more than 8 hours with no available detour
A series of serious motor vehicle accidents caused in part by various combinations of speed, icy weather and heavy snow played havoc with holiday traffic in many parts of B.C. over the weekend.
An arctic front began moving through B.C. on Saturday and is expected to bring sub-zero temperatures to the entire province for most of the week.
Motorists were stranded for more than eight hours Saturday after two people were killed when a tractor-trailer collided with a car on Highway 1 near Revelstoke, B.C.
Revelstoke RCMP Const. Mike Esson said the accident happened shortly after 1 p.m. PT when a semi-trailer and an eastbound car collided at Three Valley Gap west of Revelstoke.
Esson said the two people in the car were killed.
Highway 1 was closed between Craigellachie and Revelstoke for the next eight-and-a-half hours. With no available detour, motorists were effectively stranded at Sicamous and Revelstoke.
Many took to social media to express their frustration, but also to thank those that helped them with accommodation.
"Didn't see this coming." tweeted Kevin Kuharski.
Mark Campbell tweeted, "thanks to Megan and Sam for opening up their home to our family in Revestoke,"
The highway was reopened to traffic around 9:30 p.m. PT Saturday.
Sea-to-Sky Highway closed
The Sea-to-Sky Highway was closed Sunday shortly before 8 a.m. PT after a southbound car crossed the centre median and collided with a northbound truck, north of Lions Bay.
By 10:47 a.m. PT, a single lane had been opened to southbound traffic, but it wasn't until the afternoon that the road was opened again to traffic in both directions.
The driver of the car was airlifted to Vancouver General Hospital with head injuries. A second patient was also transported to hospital with less serious injuries.
In Pitt Meadows, shortly before 8 p.m. PT Saturday, a Ridge Meadows RCMP officer was practising radar enforcement on the Lougheed Highway.
RCMP Insp. Wendell Davis said a car was approaching at excessive speeds when the officer flashed his lights to get it to slow down.
"In an effort to deter the speeder, they flashed their emergency equipment and subsequent to that the vehicle operator made a very spontaneous lane change which resulted in the vehicle following behind it, running off the roadway and crashing into the telephone pole behind me."
Firefighters used the Jaws of Life to extricate the female driver and she was taken to hospital with undetermined injuries.
If the woman's injuries are serious enough, it's possible the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) which provides civilian oversight of serious police incidents could be called in, but as of Sunday that had not happened.