14 people have died on BC's highways and roads in the last 48 hours

It has been a deadly week on BC’s roads and highways after a series of crashes have left at least 14 people dead and several others badly hurt.

According to Mounties, the most recent incident was a single-vehicle crash on Highway 99 North of King George Boulevard in Surrey at 1:30 am.

“Police arrived at scene to find a woman in her early 20s who had been ejected from the vehicle and was deceased. Two other occupants were located trapped in the vehicle and later taken to hospital for further assessment. Driver of the vehicle is a 23-year-old man and passenger is a 22-year-old man,” Surrey RCMP said in its release Thursday.

The crash led to long delays. One driver told Daily Hive they weren’t aware of the ongoing closure of Highway 99 as their normal source for traffic information, AM730, has been pulled from the radio waves in recent weeks by its parent company, Corus Entertainment.

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Traffic was backed up throughout Surrey and into White Rock. The highway eventually reopened in the afternoon.

July 10

Mounties are also investigating a crash on Highway 3 in Keremeos involving two cars and a tractor-trailer that left a family of four dead Wednesday morning and led to an eight-hour highway closure.

It was one of three major crashes on Wednesday.

A 70-year-old male motorcyclist from Langley was pronounced dead on scene at a single-vehicle crash Wednesday evening in Pitt Meadows along Golden Ears Way near Lougheed Highway.

“Initial reports and eyewitness accounts indicate that the motorcyclist was travelling northbound on Golden Ears Way approaching the overpass above Lougheed Highway before losing control of the vehicle, colliding with the centre median, and being ejected off the motorcycle,” Ridge Meadows RCMP said in its release.

Another crash, this time on Highway 1 near Boston Bar, left two people dead; however, few details about the cause of the crash have been revealed by investigators.

July 9

A day earlier, a vehicle went off the highway in Wilmer, near Invermere, and down an embankment, killing the three passengers inside the vehicle.

“The driver was taken to hospital with what’s believed to be serious, non-life-threatening injuries, while three passengers were sadly pronounced deceased,” confirmed Cpl. James Grandy, BC RCMP spokesperson. “Speed, along with intoxication, are both believed to be a contributing factor.”

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, a family of three were killed in a two-vehicle crash in Agassiz involving a tractor-trailer. Two adults were pronounced dead on the scene, while the infant, who was airlifted to the hospital, passed away a few hours later “despite the heroic efforts of first responders and hospital staff.”

Many of these incidents will use the same resources, including the BC Coroners Service and Integrated Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service (ICARS).

“During this time of year, we see a significant increase of traffic incidents on our roadways. Police are reminding everyone to slow down and remain alert to your surroundings,” Penticton South Okanagan Similkameen RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Jason Bayda said.

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Editor’s note: This piece has been updated to reflect new information on the deadly crash on Highway 1.