The death of three people, including two children, in a serious multi-vehicle accident on the Lougheed Highway in Coquitlam on Friday has led to calls for better safety precautions.
It’s still not clear what caused the fatal crash that killed the two young girls, ages three and nine, and a 30-year-old woman. Alcohol has been ruled out, but speed has not.
People who drive the stretch of the highway where the accident occurred — near Pitt River Road — say drivers are always speeding.
“They always drive real fast on that highway. Nobody does 70 km/h. This intersection, at Dewdney Trunk, always has crashes,” one driver told Global News.
According to ICBC data, there were 317 collisions at Lougheed Highway and Pitt River Road between 2011 and 2015. It was Coquitlam’s 10th most dangerous intersection.
“Would a median have prevented a head-on? Yes it would have,” Dennis Marsden, Coquitlam city councillor, said.
City council has been calling for safety enhancements in the area, including a median and wider roads. Coincidentally, a report addressing these problems is set to go before council on Monday.
“That proposal does include site improvements, road frontage improvements including a median, street lighting, flood mitigation. Right now we are finally seeing a report that says something is going to be done in the near term,” Marsden said.
Until those changes are made, the City of Coquitlam hopes warnings to drive safely are heeded before any more lives are lost.
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