West Shore first responders are reminding motorists to use extra care while driving after a string of incidents on the Trans-Canada Highway sent several people to hospital last week
Just before noon on Thursday, West Shore RCMP were called to a motor vehicle collision on the Trans Canada Highway at Finlayson Arm Road.
According to the local detachment, a 2002 Suzuki motorcycle traveling north on the TCH crossed the centre line and collided head on with a 2015 Dodge truck. The truck was forced off the roadway, down and embankment and came to a stop with its front end in the river.
The 52-year-old female driver of the motorcycle and the three occupants of the truck; an 81-year-old man, 79-year-old woman and 53-year-old man, were taken to hospital with undetermined injuries.
The TCH was closed between Goldstream Provincial Park and Shawnigan Lake Road until just before 2:30 p.m. while the vehicles were removed from the scene.
Shortly after traffic on the Malahat started flowing again, another motor vehicle incident, this time at the Leigh Road interchange, caused traffic to slow to a trickle.
Single-lane traffic was allowed to flow past the southbound crash.
Earlier in the week, Langford crews were called to a vehicle fire on the TCH that destroyed a motorhome.
The call came in around 8:30 p.m. on April 5, said Langford Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Geoff Spriggs.
The motor home was on the northbound side of the highway just before the Sooke/Highlands exit 14 and was completely engulfed when firefighters arrived. Three engines and 12 firefighters responded and were on scene until about 9:30 p.m., when the vehicle was towed away, Spriggs said. The driver was unharmed and standing near the vehicle when firefighters arrived.
The highway was closed to northbound traffic with assistance from the RCMP for about a half an hour for safety reasons while firefighters battled the blaze.
The cause of the fire is under investigation and there are no details at this time, Spriggs said.
– with files from Rick Stiebel
katie@goldstreamgazette.com