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Speed likely a factor in motorcycle fatality on Highway 3 near Princeton

“One of the worst and most dangerous highways is between Princeton and Manning Park.”
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File Photo

A 75-year-old Alberta motorcycle rider was killed Saturday, August 6, on Highway 3 west of Princeton.

According to RCMP Sgt. Rob Hughes the accident occurred near Sunday Summit at about 2 p.m.

There were no witnesses to the crash.

Passersby stopped to assist, including a nurse, said Hughes. They performed CPR for approximately 32 minutes before Emergency Health Services (EHS) arrived on scene, but they were unable to resuscitate the man.

Hughes said it appeared the rider lost control of his bike, and slid into a ditch, with the motorcycle coming to rest on top of him.

Speed can be considered a factor, he added.

“Whenever somebody loses control of a vehicle, speed relative to conditions is a factor…That section of highway is a dangerous section, and there are speed advisories on those corners.”

Approximately two-and-half-hours earlier, on the same stretch of highway, another motorcycle rider lost control and landed in the ditch.

In that incident a 50-year-old man, also from Alberta, was injured but conscious. The motorcycle was destroyed.

“One of the worst and most dangerous highways is [Highway 3] between Princeton and Manning Park,” said RCMP Constable Dave Cramm, in a 2019 interview with the Spotlight. He specialized in motorcycle safety and incidents for the South Okanagan Traffic Division.

In a career spanning 27 years Cramm investigated more than a hundred vehicle accidents – about ten per cent of those involving motorcycles.

“They are usually the most devastating,” he said.

According to ICBC, motorcycles account for two per cent of the registered vehicles in the province, but they represent 10 per cent of the fatalities on B.C. roads.

Cramm made an extensive study of crashes in the South Okanagan and drew conclusions about their causes.

The majority of motorcycle accidents that result in injury or death – in 2017 it was 42 per cent – were the result of improper steering that is related to a lack of rider training, he said.

Related: Motorcycle cop explains the deadly nature of Highway 3

Related: Witnesses to Highway 3 crash near Manning Park asked to come forward

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Andrea DeMeer

About the Author: Andrea DeMeer

Andrea is the publisher of the Similkameen Spotlight.
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