Although there were slippery road conditions on Dec. 31, it doesn’t appear to have been the cause of the vehicle collision on South Shore Road say Lake Cowichan RCMP.
Approximately 300 metres west of Cowichan Lake Sports Arena, RCMP received a report of a vehicle on its roof in the ditch.
According to the report filed on the incident, the driver and owner of the vehicle was already out of his vehicle by the time the RCMP and the tow truck arrived at the scene of the accident.
The driver reported hitting a rut in the road, which caused him to not be able to negotiate a corner, and the vehicle skidded off the road. There were no passengers, and the driver did not sustain injuries from the accident.
Lake Cowichan drivers appeared to be acting responsibly this New Year’s Eve, said Cpl. Warren Potter of the Lake Cowichan precinct, who worked that night.
“We conducted two separate road checks during the night and early morning at various locations,” Potter said. “It went well, several vehicles were checked, and nobody was impaired.”
Looking back at some of the major incidents RCMP have been called in to investigate in 2012:
The structure fire at the Meades Creek Trailer Park on July 18 is still under investigation, reports Potter.
“Further inquiries were made on Jan. 5,” confirmed Potter, “but we still haven’t identified the persons responsible.”
While the unit that caught fire was unoccupied, the adjacent unit which subsequently caught fire was occupied.
The RCMP report states that the residents escaped with no injuries; however, both modular homes were heavily damaged by the fire which is being considered suspicious in nature.
An investigation into the ATV crash which injured one person and killed the passenger in August of 2012 is still ongoing, RCMP reports.
On the evening of August 27, emergency crews responded to a report of an overturned ATV on the Malachan Reserve. RCMP say they believe the ATV overturned when the driver made a sharp right-hand turn from a gravel road onto a paved road.
The ATV operator, a 52-year-old Nitinat Lake man, and his 45-year-old female passenger from Port Alberni both sustained injuries in the crash. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
“A search warrant is being prepared to obtain blood samples from the driver,” stated Potter. “The samples will determine if alcohol was a factor in the accident.”
In November, a motorist on Hwy. 18 succumbed to injuries sustained when a rock crashed through the windshield of the truck he was driving.
RCMP established that the rock was debris that fell off a logging truck travelling eastbound on Hwy. 18. The driver of the truck had been travelling westbound.
Potter confirmed that a statement had been obtained by the driver who was travelling behind the vehicle that was hit, who says he saw the debris fall off the oncoming logging truck’s trailer, bounce off the road and hit the vehicle in front of him.
South Island Traffic Services is still working on the file, and the driver of the logging truck has not been identified yet.