A vehicle was left standing on its end and twisted among tree branches after a single-vehicle collision in White Rock on Christmas Day.
White Rock resident Mahsa Soraya said the collision occurred near the end of Archibald Road.
“The car would have (rammed) into someones home and killed people in their living room had it not been stopped by the tree,” Soraya wrote to Peace Arch News.
Soraya placed part of the blame on the City of White Rock.
“It is amazing that with all the taxes we pay the roads cannot be salted properly causing accidents in our neighbourhood,” Soraya wrote.
Another White Rock resident, Alex Galo, described it as a “very scary accident.”
“A midsize white sedan was driving down the steep hill of Archibald in very perilous icy conditions. The car started to slide down the road then was launched in the air. Fortunately, a sturdy tree stopped its flight path. If that tree had not been there, this car would surely have crashed into the living room of the house located roughly 20 feet from the car’s current location,” Galo emailed PAN.
Galo said the collision occurred near the Archibald and Sunset Drive intersection, which he described as “extremely dangerous in fresh snow situations.”
“I believe we can be more effective in our strategy of snow clearance and salting with the limited resources we have. Priority must be given to zones around steep intersections,” Galo wrote.
White Rock director of engineering Jim Gordon said the Archibald and Sunset area has not yet been plowed because it isn’t a priority one or priority two route.
Priority one and priority two routes include bus routes, collector routes and emergency routes.
Right now, Gordon said, the city is working on garbage truck routes.
“In most cases, there’s ways around the real steepness,” Gordon said. “You can probably visualise Oxford… I don’t know if you even want to walk down there.”
If there isn’t a detour around steep slopes, Gordon suggested taking a bus may be the safest option. Gordon said he’s also cautious about sending plows to areas where there’s a heightened risk of a plow losing control.
“We don’t want them to take chances.”
White Rock RCMP staff Sgt. Kale Pauls said the cause of the collision appears to be a combination of snowy road conditions and a driver unfamiliar with winter driving.
Pauls said the motorist was checked by paramedics and they appeared uninjured.
“White Rock has many hills that challenge winter rated tires. If you must drive the snow-covered secondary roads, going 10 km/h is acceptable,” Pauls emailed PAN.
aaron.hinks@peacearchnews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
