Calls to twin Highway 103 surface after deadly crash

There are renewed calls to twin Highway 103 after a fatal crash over the weekend killed two and left others in critical condition.

Myrtle Veinotte, 75, from Beech Hill was pronounced dead at the scene after her van swerved out in traffic on a two-lane section of the highway, slamming into an SUV on Saturday morning.

Police identified the other victim as 87-year-old Luigi Liscio from Toronto. He died Saturday night in hospital in Halifax.

Liscio was a passenger in an SUV carrying six people — two of whom were critically injured. Another person went to hospital with serious injuries.

Friends and family describe Veinotte as a devout United-Baptist who was active in Beech Hill, near Chester Basin

"If there was anyone in trouble, Myrtle was there to help," said her cousin Carroll Veinotte.

She ran a fruit stand in Upper Tantallon.

"I just thought it was so sad, she was here on Thursday and then gone Saturday morning," said customer Edie Ewald.

RCMP said six people have died on the same stretch of highway between exits 5 and 7 in the past four years.

The province has plans to twin the highway between exits 5 and 6 but not for a few more years.

For now they're telling people to keep their eyes on the road.

"You got to drive defensively, be very cautious, slow down. A lot of accidents are caused by excessive speeds when conditions are good and make sure that they buckle up, have their seatbelts on," said Bruce Fitzner with the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.

Carroll Veinotte said he tries to avoid Highway 103.

"It would be great help if it was twinned, but that's not the only problem. People drive too fast, they take too many chances," he said.

In 2012 almost half of Nova Scotia's highway fatalities occurred between June and September, according to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.

That trend is continuing into 2013.