A collision in rural Saanich has sent a male cyclist in his 40s to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The incident happened Tuesday morning in the 1600-block of Ash Rd.
The cyclist was travelling east-bound, halfway down the steep Ash Road hill towards Mount Douglas when he collided with a Mini Cooper, whose female driver was turning left off Ash Road onto a private residence.
The collision sent the cyclist flying through the air and shattered the frame of his high performance bike in four spots. The Bianchi bike landed on a woodpile about six metres from the road.
It is not clear whether speed played a role in the collision, said Const. Dean Nicholson of Saanich Police. This said, the collision was only the latest incident on a road that continues to draw the attention of local authorities.
“Ash Road is a perpetual challenge for us [Saanich Police],” he said. “There’s a lack of a bike lane here, cyclist coming down the hill and a bit of sun glare from the east.”
Tuesday’s incident happened just metres away from the crosswalk where a vehicle struck Leila Bui in late December 2017.
Bui — who recently returned from hospital — remains in a non-responsive state following the incident that has prompted calls from improvements to the road. They include among others lower speed limits and other improvements.
“It’s very unfortunate this happened, it’s going to happen again,” said the homeowner who didn’t want to be named, but whose partner, Dr. Chand Taneja is on the Fix Ash Road Now advocacy group.
“We’ve lived here 10 years, you pull out in the morning, it’s clear, by the time you get down the hill there’s a cyclist on your bumper, you don’t know where they came from,” he added. “People perpetually speed down this road, doesn’t matter if there’s kids, cars, bikes.”
– with files from Travis Paterson
wolfgang.depner@saanichnews.com
