Vancouver Police cruiser driving wrong way narrowly escapes collision
A Vancouver man said he and his wife are shaken up after a police cruiser driving in the wrong direction nearly collided with his vehicle.
Edward Bhang said he was crossing a Burrard Street intersection around 12:30 am Sunday when a Vancouver Police vehicle along Dunsmuir Street was driving towards oncoming traffic.
In a video shared on Reddit, Bhang’s dash-cam captured the moment the vehicle nearly collided head-on but swerved away and set off its police lights.
“This cruiser came out of nowhere,” Bhang said. “At first, we thought maybe it was a drunk driver … because it’s a one-way street. I rarely see people going down like against traffic.”
Once Bhang realized it was a VPD vehicle, he said he was baffled.
“You’re a cop car and you don’t know the street [direction] and turn on the lights afterwards, trying to pretend you’re on official business. That doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
VPD Reckless driving almost caused a major collision
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The Vancouver resident described the moment as scary, adding his wife who was in the car at the time was particularly startled.
In an email statement to Daily Hive, police spokeswoman Const. Tania Visintin said the VPD is “reviewing the circumstances of this incident to find out more information.”
“Section 122(1) of the Motor Vehicle Act outlines the circumstances in which the operator of a police vehicle may disregard rules and traffic control devices governing direction of movement or turning in specified directions,” she said. However, Visintin explained, “B.C. Emergency Vehicle Driving Regulation outlines circumstances in which the operator of a police vehicle may disregard the provisions of Section 122(1) of the Motor Vehicle Act without activating lights and sirens.”
Bhang said he’s filed a complaint with the Officer of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) of British Columbia.
With files from Samantha Holomay
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