Police are investigating a deadly crash that closed the Sea-to-Sky Highway in both directions for several hours on Sunday.
BC RCMP said that at approximately 5:30 p.m., an officer with the British Columbia Highway Patrol (BCHP) was conducting speed enforcement on Highway 99 near the Deeks Creek Bridge, south of Porteau Cove, when they observed two motorcyclists reportedly speeding and driving erratically.
They attempted to stop the motorcycles, but they did not stop, RCMP said.
The officer decided to follow them and moments later found one of the motorcyclists who was involved in a collision with a recreational vehicle.
The motorcyclist, a woman, was declared dead at the scene.
BC Emergency Health Services says two ambulances and an air ambulance were dispatched, but no one was taken to the hospital.
The BC RCMP said on Monday that it has notified the Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia (IIO BC) of the incident as a police officer was involved.
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B.C. Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate the incident and is seeking witnesses and dashcam video. Anyone who may have seen the motorcyclists, or may have dash cam video of them, between Britannia Beach and the crash scene is asked to contact 604-526-9744.
The highway reopened around 2 a.m. on Monday.
Drivers stranded for hours during the road closure say there was no communication about how long they’d be stuck, with no access to basic necessities like water, food or facilities.
“People had missed flights; people were nursing their babies on the side of the road; there were children sleeping on the pavement and there was just thousands of people that were gridlocked in both directions that didn’t have answers,” Brittany Michalchuk, CEO of YVR Entrepreneurs, said.
“Didn’t have water for some of them for eight plus hours.”
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B.C.’s Ministry of Transportation said on Monday that the government is always looking at ways to improve the province’s highways.
Mike Farnworth said they “want to remind people it is a dangerous stretch of highway and to drive to the conditions and the speed limit on the road.
“I know there will be an investigation into what happened and, as I said, one of the best things is also to check Drive BC because we do know the challenges that are on there.”
In a statement to Global News, Nina Krieger, the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, said that when a fatal collision occurs, the highway must be treated as a potential crime scene until investigators have completed their work.
“We recognize that lengthy highway closures create significant disruption to drivers and their families. However, when there has been a loss of life, investigators must approach the scene with the same care and rigor applied to any serious incident,” she added.
Krieger said that time is required to document the scene and while reopening highways as quickly as possible is a priority, it can only happen after investigators have completed their work
Crashes and closures and back ups are becoming more common place now. Easy to pack some water in your trunk. Someone died and people were inconvenienced and had to breast feed their babies? The horror.
Another rider hotdogging it.