A Ucluelet man broke a few bones when he was thrown from his dirt bike during a collision with an Alberta driver.

The local man was riding his dirt bike along Barkley Main Forest Service Road around 4 p.m. on May 17 when he came around a corner and smashed into a van traveling the opposite direction.

He was catapulted from the bike and landed on his back with a possible concussion, a broken nose and a broken finger, according to Sgt. Jeff Swann of the Ucluelet RCMP.

The van received minor damage and its driver escaped the crash unharmed.

Swann said neither alcohol nor drugs were factors in the collision and noted the dirt biker’s injuries could have been much more severe.

“It was an extremely lucky local individual who is well known to us and well known to people in the community and we’re just so thankful that he’s OK,” Swann said.

“It’s a general reminder to everybody to just be so cautious, especially on the back roads where you’re not expecting a car.”

Swann acknowledged Ucluelet’s back roads are popular dirt biking grounds but he urges locals to always be wary and never to assume the roads are traffic-free.

“It’s like operating a chainsaw. Every time I pick up a chainsaw I’m deathly afraid of it on purpose because I want to be scared of it; the minute you get too accustomed to using it, that’s when you’re going to get hurt.”

 

Impaired driver nabbed

A tourist lost their driving privileges for three days last week after being caught driving while impaired.

Const. Susan Argyle was on patrol around midnight on May 18 when she noticed a vehicle swerving over the centre-line.

She pulled the vehicle over and determined the driver had been drinking.

The driver was issued two breath tests from two approved screening devices, and both samples rendered a ‘warn,’ according to Sgt. Swann.

A driver blows a ‘warn’ when their blood alcohol level is between 0.5 and 0.8.

The tipsy tourist was issued a 3-day immediate roadside prohibition.

 

Andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca

Tofino-Ucluelet Westerly News