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The Queen Margaret’s School Chapel Choir sings Hope Was Born Tonight during the school’s annual Candlelight Carol Service on Sunday, Dec. 9.
Andrew Leong
Another Malahat crash and closure renews median call Monday crossover: Sooke driver taken to hospital after crossing the centre lane and colliding with Ladysmith pair in Jetta Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
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Sooke driver and two Ladysmith folks are lucky to be alive after Monday evening’s cross-over crash along an non-medianed stretch of the Malahat, of¿cials say. The wreck also tossed fuel on Malahat ¿re chief Rob Patterson’s demand for concrete barriers along the Malahat, particularly on the section
called NASCAR Corner, near where three folks died in October during a cross-over accident. No charges have been laid in Monday’s incident while investigation continues into why the Sooke driver’s southbound, 2003 Chev Cavalier crossed the centre line, then collided with a northbound 2004 VW Jetta at around 5:20 p.m. on wet pavement. The wreck sent the 31-year-old Sooke driver to Victoria hospital with what Malahat ¿re chief Rob Patterson said was suspected head trauma and a possible broken wrist. The Jetta’s male driver and his female passenger, both from Ladysmith, were shaken but uninjured, Patterson noted of the crash that closed rush-hour traf¿c for an hour in both directions. That delay saw Malahat ¿re¿ghters use the Jaws of Life to remove the Sooke male from the
crumpled Cavalier. Its fuel tank was also ruptured, prompting fuel mopping by Patterson’s crew. “Once again, I’m calling for medians,” said Patterson, whose crews took trauma counselling after dealing with the Oct. 14 triple fatality, just 300 metres from Monday’s crash site. RCMP say the two-car collision happened north of Whittaker Road as two vehicles were merging southbound near the summit. That’s where a Slegg Construction truck was passed by the Cavalier in the slow lane, explain Shawnigan Lake RCMP. The Cavalier touched the front end of the large truck causing the Cavalier to go sideways, and cross the centre line, where it was hit by the northbound Jetta. Patterson said both vehicles were totalled
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during the wreck where medians would likely have reduced the dangers. “There’s no replacing stupidity,” the ¿re chief said. “If there’d been medians there, the people in the Jetta wouldn’t have been affected, and the guy in the Rob Patterson: Chev would have been the once again only one affected.” RCMP Cpl. Dave MacKenzie indicated medians would help reduce Malahat risks. “If northbound and southbound vehicles stay in their respective lanes, we’d have less crashes.” Crash witnesses can contact Shawnigan Lake RCMP at 250-743-5514.