Fatal Crash

[gordon_as]

http://www.castanet.net/news/Vernon/896 ... -of-Vernon

Dangerous driver , or dangerous vehicle , or both ? Something caused this tragedy and two innocent people have lost their lives.

[Dizzy1]

Drove by it yesterday early evening on the way down to Kelowna, I've seen several bad collisions but the damage to that Volvo was horrific.

[tarasbulba]

How can there be a head on, on a 4 lane highway, I don't know the curcumstances surrounding this but I bet that, the vehicle was in the left hand lane as do most drivers now a days. For some reason they want to sit in that lane. I got some responces once about why people sit in that lane, some said it's because then they have more road, WHAT??? others said it's because it's the fast lane and if your going faster than the speed limit you should be in that lane. I watch time and time again of these people sitting in that inside lane forever. Being in the center lane scares me, because your so close to others in that lane, I would assume that they were in that lane, otherwise you would see them coming at you across 2 lanes and you would have time to move out of the way. So sad that people lose thier lives because people are not taught properly how to drive. I always hear too that the police don't know if speed was a factor, yet, most vehicles today have computers in them that show everything, that vehicle does for a certain amount of time, why don't they access these??? I just see so many bad driving habits in the Okanagan these days, it's scary. People won't even slow down a bit when approching a person walking, they fly right by them, forcing people to get in the ditch, when I pull over to give them room, thier amazed and always wave at me. What has happened to our driving abilities here, that's why people get killed or injured. Just a thought of mine and I would be curious to know how many accidents are because people are in that lane, everyone drives in that lane now, thinking thier going to get some place sooner, yet I always catch up to them at the next light and I'm doing the speed limit and pass most of them in them while I'm in the right lane.. So sad

[gordon_as]

Sorry to disagree however , at highway speed , the difference between the inside lane and the outside lane would not give you any extra time to react , and if you were already in the outside lane you would have nowhere to go but the ditch. This crash ( notice I didn't call it an accident ) was caused by the driver of a truck allowing or causing his vehicle to cross into oncoming traffic. The police report said unknown if alcohol was a factor , it said nothing about speed. I would bet my last dollar that excessive speed was the major contributing factor. The modified suspension on the truck probably made it even harder to keep in his lane. The lifted suspension also probably caused the truck to override the car , and also to roll. Likely these two factors played a big part in both of the fatalities. I am not saying that everyone would have made it if it was a unmodified truck , I am just saying that things might not have gone so bad. Perhaps the driver would have been able to control his vehicle properly and not crashed into the car. Other than plain old stupid driving , mechanical failure would be the only other possible cause.
The driver of the Volvo was not at fault regardless of which lane he was in as long as it was on the right side of the yellow line. The truck is too old to have any system capable of telling how fast he was going at the time of the crash.

[gordon_as]

120 kilometers per hour = 33 meters per second. Even at a low angle it wouldn't take too long to cross 1 or 2 lanes of road.

I witnessed a crash very much like this one . It was only a couple of kilometers towards Vernon. The road curved and the pickup in front of me inexplicably went straight ahead. The young lady coming the other way had no time to react. It was Valentines day about 15 years ago , and her family still puts flowers at that spot on the road. I also think of her every time I pass.

[Donald G]

My condolences to all those whose lives will be forever changed by the few seconds during which the accident took place ... if it was in fact truly an accident. All too often the police investigation identifies that the carnage is the result of a bad decision, or string of bad decisions by one of those involved.

[tarasbulba]

I've been driving for a very long time now and on a few occassions I've had people come across the road at me but because I drive defensively, I'm always on the lookout for any of these things and I always look for a place to get off the road if I have too. It's gotten me out of a lot of problems in the past 40 some odd years, plus I'm a professional driver all my life so I'm always on the road and luckily (knock on wood) I've only had one accident in my life and that's because I couldn't drive any further into the ditch, I seen the car coming at me and had time to react.Two lane road. Otherwise I would have killed both old people for sure with my big truck, cause they were in a little car. People out there never think of that anymore, the what if ???and drive accordingly, always watching traffic and looking for a place to get out of the way, because they all think thier the best drivers ever, well most of them and that they could never be in a crash. That's what I meant by defensive driving and it has served me very good for a long time. Yes a vehicle is a problem when thier jacked up, very easy to roll because now it's top heavy, but they don't see that. Nothing could happen to them, ever. I just know that I would rather be farther away from any vehicle on the road than right next to them, especially when the speed is faster. Plus I always give lots of room between my vehicle and the one in front, people don't use the second rule anymore, pick an object that the car in front just passed, then count 5 sec, you should be at that same mark. Nope thier bumper to bumper and only look at the car in front, that close what else can you do. I watch how people drive all my life and it's so funny to watch someone come screaming up to my bumper, only to slam on the brakes, then they back off a bit and you can see them in the mirror relax and then look around, they lose thier death grip on the wheel too. Like can't they judge anymore how fast thier going. Just so sad because people die because of thier driving habits and they still don't get it.

[grammafreddy]

[skydawg]

Perhaps the RCMP should contact you folks on here as you seem be to experts on this incident. Nothing has been said about this other than a truck crossed the line. Any number of things could have caused that truck to cross the centre line. Typical castanet, people spouting off before the facts are out.

[baconbits]

Very Sad

RCMP confirm that a third person has now died from the head-on collision near Vernon Sunday.

The 67-year-old female passenger who suffered severe brain damage from the crash was taken off of life support by her family. The woman's 70-year-old husband, who was driving the car, died at the scene.

Police say a northbound Chevy pickup crossed the centre line and struck the couple's southbound Volvo station wagon.

The 21-year-old driver of the truck from Spallumcheen was taken to hospital, he is expected to recover. His 19-year-old passenger from Armstrong also died at the crash site.

At this time, police say there is no indication alcohol was a factor. The investigation in continuing. Names have not been released.

[Dizzy1]

I witnessed a crash very much like this one . It was only a couple of kilometers towards Vernon. The road curved and the pickup in front of me inexplicably went straight ahead. The young lady coming the other way had no time to react. It was Valentines day about 15 years ago , and her family still puts flowers at that spot on the road. I also think of her every time I pass.

Was that the accident that called to have the concrete barrier installed going up and down dump hill?

Thats the third fatal accident I've seen on that stretch, it'll be very interesting to where the the investigation leads.

[GordonH]

No matter how this all come out in the investigation, the driver of the truck will have to live with knowledge. That his actions, or lack of reaction caused the deaths of 3 people on March 31, 2013.

Its that simple and very sad, my condolences to families who lost loved ones that day.

[gordon_as]

Dizzy 1 : No , not at the turnoff. Can't picture in my mind right now if it was before the dump , or after.

[Dizzy1]

Dizzy 1 : No , not at the turnoff. Can't picture in my mind right now if it was before the dump , or after.

The accident I'm thinking of happened going up the hill (northbound) between the turn off for Kekuli Bay (bottom of the hill) and Birnie Rd (top of the hill) ... IIRC there was a fatal accident there about the same time frame in your post and was just wondering if that was the accident that resulted in the concrete barriers being placed in the middle of the road.

[gordon_as]

Sounds right , just can't picture the barriers being there now