Boundary region records 3rd motor vehicle death in 2 weeks

Please slow down and drive cautiously.

That’s advice motorists should heed, say police in B.C.’s Boundary region, noting three people have died in local motor vehicle collisions in just the past two weeks.

“Despite the warmer weather and lack of snow for this time of year, the roads can still be icy and slippery and we want to warn all drivers to drive with care,” said Sgt. Darryl Peppler of Grand Forks RCMP.

“We are seeing too many serious and fatal accidents in our Boundary region and we certainly don’t want to see anymore.”

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Police say the first incident, a head-on collision involving two cars on Highway 3 near Greenwood, happened on Dec. 10. A passenger in one of the vehicles, a 62-year-old woman from Grand Forks, was taken to hospital but died several hours later.

A week later, on Dec. 18, a 66-year-old Grand Forks man died in another head-on collision on Highway 33 just north of Rock Creek. A 57-year-old Grand Forks woman, a passenger, was taken to hospital in Kelowna with serious injuries.

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Nine days after that, at noon on Dec. 20, a 63-year-old man from Greenwood was trapped inside his vehicle after it went over a steep embankment on Phoenix Road.

The man was rescued and taken to hospital; police said they suspect that alcohol was involved and are investigating.

On the afternoon of Dec. 21, police from Grand Forks were called to yet another accident at North Fork Road and Coalchute Road.

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Police say the driver and lone occupant, a 57-year-old woman from Grand Forks, was extricated from the vehicle and was taken to hospital but later died from injuries.

The accident is still under investigation and RCMP say they have not ruled out speed or alcohol as factors.

Elsewhere in B.C.’s Southern Interior this month, the driver of a minivan died in a head-on collision with a logging truck on Highway 97A, south of Sicamous, on Dec. 3.

Police say the northbound logging truck crossed the centre line and crashed into the van, adding that road conditions were poor.

On Dec. 9, Salmon Arm RCMP reported 11 collisions related to heavy snowfall between the communities of Canoe and Tappen. No serious injuries were reported.

For the latest road conditions throughout the province, visit DriveBC.

More information about winter driving safety is also available on the provincial government website.