A man was taken to hospital after the Yamaha motorcycle he was driving collided with a Dodge Ram pickup on Beaver Creek Road in Port Alberni Saturday afternoon, Oct. 28, 2017.
The collision occurred at approximately 4:15 p.m., between the Howard Johnson’s Inn and Van Isle Ford. A witness who declined to share her name said she was following the white Dodge pickup northbound on Beaver Creek when it attempted a left turn into the Howard Johnson’s parking lot.
The truck collided with the Yamaha, which was travelling southbound with a single male rider, and appeared to drive over the motorcycle, the witness said..
“I just saw the whole right side of the white truck jump up,” she said. “It was awful.”
The motorcycle driver was left lying in the southbound lane of Beaver Creek Road, less than a metre from the badly damaged cycle. The truck rolled to a stop in the parking lot, its right headlight gone and the right side of its front bumper folded back.
First aid was initially provided by a patron at Howard Johnson’s, who gave her name as Courtney.
“A woman who was coming in to work rushed in, very upset, and said someone got hit on a motorcycle right outside,” said Courtney, who is from Victoria. “I have my first aid, so I went out.”
She said the man initially was unresponsive, though he did open his eyes and speak just before B.C. Ambulance attendants arrived a few minutes later. At one point the man attempted to get up, but Courtney held him by his helmet to keep him on his back while telling him to remain calm and to stay still.
As paramedics worked on the man later, he could be heard complaining of back pain.
Port Alberni RCMP and Port Alberni Fire Department personnel also attended the scene, and Beaver Creek Road was closed between Heaslip Road and Alexander as the man was treated and loaded into an ambulance for transport to hospital. The road remained closed afterward as RCMP investigators went over the scene.
