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'Complicated' motorcycle crash causes eight-hour closure of 99

Steven Hill shill@squamishchief.com A fatal motorcycle accident on Saturday (Feb. 11) caused Hwy 99 to be closed for more than eight hours, infuriating commuters and motorists, and prompting police to re-examine procedure.

Steven Hill

shill@squamishchief.com

A fatal motorcycle accident on Saturday (Feb. 11) caused Hwy 99 to be closed for more than eight hours, infuriating commuters and motorists, and prompting police to re-examine procedure.

Sea to Sky Traffic Services and Squamish RCMP are still investigating the fatal collision, which occurred at 12:45 p.m. just north of Horseshoe Bay.

According to RCMP, three motorcyclists traveling north on the highway lost control of their bikes, and all three collided with different southbound vehicles. One of the riders, 31-year-old Rick Sanchez of Vancouver, was pronounced dead on scene. Another rider was pinned under a vehicle, which had to be jacked up and placed on blocks in order to remove the injured man.

The multiple crashes forced the closure of Hwy 99 for about eight hours while RCMP and Traffic Services investigated and cleaned up the debris from the accidents.

Cpl. Dave Ritchie of the Squamish RCMP said the nature of the incident was fairly complicated, which resulted in a longer than usual closure of the highway.

"This was not a simple two-car head-on collision," he said. "It was a fairly technical scene. What we had was essentially three separate accidents within the one accident," he said. "All three northbound motorcyclists hit three southbound vehicles."Ritchie said evidence was strewn across every lane of traffic, making it necessary to restrict passage along the highway until police analysts could arrive on scene.

"You can't just push everything to the side of the road," said Ritchie. "In the eventuality that there are civil or criminal charges, we have to collect all the necessary evidence - paths of trajectory, points of impact and such."

Witnesses close to the scene have reported perhaps 20 or more cars continued down the highway after the accident occurred, weaving around debris and a body lying in the road - possibly contaminating crash evidence in the process.

Wayne Tuuri, a Whistler taxi driver familiar with the Sea to Sky highway, was one of the first at the scene of the accident on Saturday. He said he recognized the motorcyclists in the accident because they had passed him just after Horseshoe Bay traveling north. He said they were traveling at high speeds when they passed him, but it didn't surprise him.

"I see this all the time," he said, in reference to speeding vehicles.

Tuuri was appalled when oncoming traffic didn't stop to help those involved in the accident.

"Cars were just driving around the [injured] and debris," he said. "People never cease to amaze me."

To make matters worse, those professionals needed to investigate the crash so traffic could get moving, were in the Lower Mainland and behind an ever increasing snarl of weekend commuters on the only road linking Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler."We have to call in technical accident re-constructionists and analysts," said Ritchie. "And they were all on-call in the Lower Mainland with Traffic Services."

Ritchie said the day-long traffic jam - in which hundreds, including young children, went eight hours without toilets, water or food - had since been the subject of several irate calls to the detachment. It had also been the subject of several meetings for RCMP, as they re-examine the events and ways to avoid future prolonged closures.

"We're hoping in the case of similar situations to be able to clear up at least one lane for alternating traffic," he said. "The objective is to get traffic moving as quickly as possible. But in the case of all fatal accidents, there will some highway closure."Although the accident has garnered much media attention, it is unlikely to discourage bikers from cruising along the highway for its stunning views and many curves they find so exciting to ride.

Peja Kesic of Vancouver is one of these motorcyclists, riding the highway for pleasure up to three times a week. He said it is not uncommon for motorcycle owners to make day trips along the Sea to Sky highway.

"The road is one of the best to ride if you are experienced," he said.

A community of riders often meets at the Starbucks in Squamish before continuing on to Whistler or turning around and heading back to Vancouver, said Kesic.

"You wait for the first sunny day and then you go," he said.

He is concerned with the power of modern bikes, because they are similar in design to race bikes. He said people with little experience can purchase the bikes and they may not be prepared to handle the power and it can become dangerous, especially when riding in pairs.

"When there is someone next to you riding, it becomes a game and too many people die," he said.

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