Head-on collision @ Summerland

[sixxonesixx]

That bus was following me through Westbank and driving fairly aggressively. I was speeding a little bit and noticed she was right on my bumper.I did notice occupants changing seats while moving through the slower parts of Westbank. I just thought it was a little odd because I mentioned it to my wife about this bus and then 45 minutes later I see a pic on Castanet. Bizarre

[BikerDude]

A sad aspect to this story is that the bus was returning from a day trip to H2O in Kelowna. The same week that our brand new Rec center opened, with free swimming for the week.

Did they really have to travel to Kelowna to go swimming?

[brentan]

oh - oh
was hoping not to hear such story of bus driving as you suggest!
Anybody hear of any charges ?
Certainly hope she and her baby will be fine none the less

[Bsuds]

The bus driver is not the one that went into oncoming traffic, it was the cat that hit the bus. Not much point in charging the deceased.

[Glacier]

Driving requires you to stay on your own side of the road. Should be simple to do on a 4 lane highway that you can cruise at 110 km/hr.

The Problem is; When you go cheap on safety, this is the sort of thing that happens. Reducing risks, reduces accidents, however they happen ( blowouts, Ice, Drunks, Driver inattention.....) Its the innocent people i feel sorry for.
I'm sure if there was a barrier/divider, like there should be, then this tragic accident would not have been as bad as it was. Having driven in several countries, I can quite honestly say Canada has some catching up to do in preventative road safety.

I agree with this post, but I would argue it's more a BC problem than a Canadian one. There is a good reason other jurisdictions always twin their highways instead of four lane them. Head-ons continue to occur because BC decided to cheap-out sometime in the 80s with highway improvements.

This was a tragic accident that was preventable as was last week's fatality between Vernon and Armstrong on that newly upgraded 4-lane highway. Instead of fixing highways after the fact, I hope (against all unlikeliness) that the government finally start to build and design them properly in the first place. Build highways with earth medians, and terraced where possible. please.

[tonyrippon]

Driving requires you to stay on your own side of the road. Should be simple to do on a 4 lane highway that you can cruise at 110 km/hr.

The Problem is; When you go cheap on safety, this is the sort of thing that happens. Reducing risks, reduces accidents, however they happen ( blowouts, Ice, Drunks, Driver inattention.....) Its the innocent people i feel sorry for.
I'm sure if there was a barrier/divider, like there should be, then this tragic accident would not have been as bad as it was. Having driven in several countries, I can quite honestly say Canada has some catching up to do in preventative road safety.

I agree with this post, but I would argue it's more a BC problem than a Canadian one. There is a good reason other jurisdictions always twin their highways instead of four lane them. Head-ons continue to occur because BC decided to cheap-out sometime in the 80s with highway improvements.

This was a tragic accident that was preventable as was last week's fatality between Vernon and Armstrong on that newly upgraded 4-lane highway. Instead of fixing highways after the fact, I hope (against all unlikeliness) that the government finally start to build and design them properly in the first place. Build highways with earth medians, and terraced where possible. please.

Yes planning is the key here also. This head on accident would have been totally preventable on this stretch of road and it seems there is plenty of room to allow for dividers.
The westside interchange road which is under construction seems to be going down the same route. Bad lighting has made this road pretty dangerous, especially when wet. So with the construction of the new road, they introduce street lighting which can easily be crashed into???? Barmy! Why couldn't they incorporate the lighting and the dividers together to make the road safer?Bad planning!!!

[Glacier]

Why couldn't they incorporate the lighting and the dividers together to make the road safer?

Because they always go with the lowest bidder.

[twobits]

Why couldn't they incorporate the lighting and the dividers together to make the road safer?

Because they always go with the lowest bidder.

Glacier that's neither fair or accurate. I am sure all contractors bidding the project are bidding the same spec sheets. The design is fixed. Why would one company bid a four lane divided, much more expensive, if they had the leeway to bid it as undivided??? I would say the reason for not being divided at least, is to do with overall cost differences between the two options and not a question of "cheaping out". With a rock face on one side and a drop off to a lake on the other, how much more cliff face would have been required to blast out to accomodate the divide? While any death is a tragedy, we cannot possibly build roads that are going to be 100% safe under every driving or driver senario. I would agree that some barriers might be in order if stretches proove dangerous over time but they do not come without some problems as well. I know several people that get very panicked when hemmed in by such barriers and a semi beside them in the other lane.

It is also a fact that BC road building engineers are world reknown for their expertice and experience due to some of the most challenging terrain where high speed hyways are an expected norm.

[Glacier]

Glacier that's neither fair or accurate.

I meant that as a haha, and not to be taken seriously. As for your question of about how much more rock needs to be blasted to divide the highway. None to very little. Much of the four laning is done on flat land, like the recently completed section of 97 this side of Westwold.

[tonyrippon]

It is also a fact that BC road building engineers are world reknown for their expertice and experience due to some of the most challenging terrain where high speed hyways are an expected norm

Hmm...agreed that they maybe regarded as being some of the best engineers in the world, and that they know how to build on the challenging terrain but it seems that when it comes to safety some are still not smart enough. Many countries have far better examples of a 'safety first' preventative approach. Some think it comes down to putting $$$ before life. It seems here that they currently have more of a reactive approach that once there is a terrible accident...then it will get looked at. Within a few km's from my house we have a pedestrian crossing that is not only on the brow of a hill but in a place where there is no street lighting ...yet less than a few steps down there isn't a hill & there is street lighting - I would love to know what the thought process was here. There are also pedestrian crossings on each exit of a round about?? There are numerous junctions where the driver gets a green left turn signal along with a pedestrian who at the same time gets a 'walk' light across the same road?? Numerous examples of where street parking is allowed right up to a pedestrian crossing so that you can't actually see the person until they have stepped out. We have bus stops at junctions?? I could go on and on...and I have! I don't think the genius engineers and the safety guys are on the same team! But it's also a fact that you can be a genius but have no common sense.

[Glacier]

There are numerous junctions where the driver gets a green left turn signal along with a pedestrian who at the same time gets a 'walk' light across the same road??

Like most of what you say in your last two posts, this not an accurate reflection of reality.

[Well Trained Mind]

Here's another side to this sad story. This email posted to another site is from the son of the deceased. Please be considerate in your comments, as this man who died was a good man who left behind a wife and son. I did notice that in all the news releases to Castanet on this accident, the RCMP never made mention that speed was a contributing factor - only the wet roads. As for the 'snow tire' comments, who has snow tires on in June? I sure don't.

If there is indeed an engineering fault on this road, a road that our taxes paid a high penny to expand, it needs to be fixed immediately.

Taken from Oliver Daily News:
http://oliverdailynews.com/

Hello. I have read the posts you have online and I understand that they are generic posts by other news organizations but my mother and I are becoming very agitated at the media and the RCMP. The police have already told us the cause of the accident that killed my father, but they haven’t told the media, thus tarnishing his good name. We don’t want the media to find out in a few weeks what truly happened Tuesday night because by then nobody will care, and everybody will believe that the accident was my dad’s fault. The truth couldn’t be more incorrect. The RCMP have already confirmed to my mother and I that my dad did hydro plane. The RCMP collision techs have confirmed that my dad was going the speed limit. The coroner has confirmed that there was nothing medically wrong with my dad. All this indicates that my dad did nothing wrong Tuesday night. When we found all this information out we asked why the accident happened then. We where told that there is a problem with the new stretch of highway and that Government Engineers will be testing the highway in the next few weeks.
You are the first news organization that we have told our story too. We plan on doing an interview with CTV news in the near future as well, but like I said, the RCMP have told us that my dad did nothing wrong, and that the problem is in the highway. I want the people to know this before any of the blame is placed on my father in other peoples minds. My family awaits the Highway engineers report in the mean time.
Thank-you for listening

[Al Czervic]

Understandable that the son would defend his father and rightfully so. But let’s be clear, you do not drive the speed limit when conditions deteriorate…you slow you down and exercise caution. Roads do not kill people, people who do not exercise appropriate caution for the conditions and slow down are the problem. Over the years I have driven the Coquihalla many times only to see some idiot go roaring by in winter road conditions only to see the same idiot in the ditch further down the road. People need to learn to slow down. I hate to say it in this case but doing the “speed limit” in bad weather conditions is just not good enough. Please slow down and exercise caution. This tragedy hopefully is one we can learn from. Slow down in poor driving and road conditions.

[Well Trained Mind]

Absolutely - slowing your speed to adjust for weather conditions is first and foremost. However, if there is a known engineering problem on that new stretch of highway, it must be dealt with.

[Al Czervic]

Absolutely - slowing your speed to adjust for weather conditions is first and foremost. However, if there is a known engineering problem on that new stretch of highway, it must be dealt with.

Every highway can have problems if you do not slow down in adverse conditions. Every highway has fatalities in situations where people drive too fast when conditions are poor. You cannot “engineer” any highway for a driver who insists on doing the speed limit in poor driving conditions no more then you can create laws that attempt to legislate common sense.