The international student who died in a car crash on his way back from Whistler on Feb. 23 has been identified on social media and in a Squamish obituary as Joshua Kai Ballinger.
Ballinger, 21, was killed when the driver of a southbound Toyota Matrix carrying the out-of-town student lost control and drove into oncoming traffic, according to Cst. Mike Halskov of BC RCMP Traffic Services.
The driver may have been going faster than the conditions would have required, Halskov suggested, in an interview with The Chief after the accident.
“It is winter in B.C., and you have really got to make sure that you know what you are doing when you drive in those conditions,” he said.
The collision involved at least three vehicles, he said.
One other person was airlifted to hospital in the Lower Mainland with concerns about head and possible spinal injuries.
A memorial for Ballinger was held at UBC on Friday, March 2.
Ballinger was at least the fourth person to die on the stretch of highway between Squamish and Whistler this year.
