Motorists passing through the Agassiz-Harrison area saw fewer crashes in 2019.
ICBC recently released crash data from 2019. The Agassiz-Harrison area saw 40 fewer reported crashes from 2018 to 2019, falling from 458 to 418. This is about nine crashes short of the five-year average; 2018 is the worst recent year in terms of crashes.
While the Highways 7 and 9 along with the Lougheed Highway have the highest crash statistics in the area, what are some of the other problem areas?
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Note: Crashes with casualties are not necessarily all fatal. ICBC defines casualty crashes as motor vehicle crashes that result in an injury or fatality, including incidents in parking lots or involving parked vehicles.
1. Esplanade Avenue
Harrison Hot Springs’ scenic Esplanade Avenue is busy not only with travelers during the tourist season, but with locals as well. The pedestrian traffic alone can be cause for worry for motorists trying to inch their way through the area. There were 24 crashes reported in 2019, which is down by 10 from 2018. Twenty-four crashes is fairly on par with the five-year average.
A majority of crashes were property damage with only one casualty. The crashes with determinable causes were mostly side impacts.
2. Hot Springs Road
The gateway road to Harrison Hot Springs saw 21 reported crashes in 2019. Though among the higher-volume crash sites, 2019 was actually the best on record for Hot Springs Road, the worst being 2017 with 33 crashes.
There were two casualties reported on Hot Springs Road in 2019. Most of the crashes reported involved only one vehicle.
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3. Pioneer Avenue
Pioneer Avenue stretches right through Agassiz’s downtown core and is among the busier non-highway streets in the Agassiz-Harrison area. Pioneer Avenue had two reported casualties in 2019 with 20 crashes total. This was the second worst year on a five-year record, only being topped by 2016’s 21 crashes.
4. Morris Valley Road
Morris Valley Road stretches from Harrison Mills to Hemlock Valley and beyond. This road saw 18 crashes in 2019, the second-best year in a five-year record behind 2015, in which there were only seven crashes reported.
There were two casualties reported. Most of the crashes (eight, to be exact) were single vehicle with rear-end, side impact and rear-to-rear crashes mixing in as well.
5. Lillooet Avenue
Lillooet is situated in the heart of Harrison Hot Springs and is the third street on this list located near in the heart of Harrison. Despite experiencing heavy traffic patterns during the tourism season like virtually everywhere else in the downtown core, unlike Esplanade Avenue, the crashes on Lillooet took place at varying times of the year. Most of the 10 crashes were single vehicle and there was one casualty. 2019 was the second worst year in five years with only 2016 topping it with 12 crashes.
6. Morrow Road
Morrow Road is another short stretch close to some of the busiest areas of Agassiz, fitting snug between the Agassiz-Rosedale Highway and Haig Highway. There were nine crashes on Morrow Road in 2019, most of which were single vehicle crashes. There were two casualties in 2019.
The next few roads down the list are Seabird Island Road and Rockwell Drive at eight crashes each in 2019 followed by Mackay Crescent and Cheam Avenue with seven each.
Highways
Highway 7 saw the heaviest number of crashes in 2019 with 34 crashes, 10 of which resulted in casualties. Roughly half of those crashes were determined to be single-vehicle, following the trends of the roadways in Agassiz-Harrison.
Lougheed Highway was the site of 33 crashes and seven casualties in 2019. Eleven of those crashes involved only one vehicle.
Highway 9 saw 32 crashes in 2019 with seven casualties. Thirteen crashes were single-vehicle.
Other Statistics
In the Agassiz-Harrison area, there were 74 casualties in 2019, which is third-highest year on a five-year record, the worst year being 2019 with 99. A bulk of the crashes took place in Agassiz with 276.
As noted elsewhere, most of the crashes throughout the area were single-vehicle at 175; 100 crashes had undetermined causes and there were 61 side impact crashes. There were no multiple-impact crashes in 2019 for Agassiz-Harrison, a first on a five-year record.
Elsewhere in B.C.
Vancouver saw the most crashes in B.C. at 52,222, which is actually a five-year low, according to ICBC records. Surrey saw 32,800 crashes reported. Burnaby saw 17,375, which was another five-year low.
Overall, the entire province saw 296,810 crashes in 2019, which is a five-year low.
To see the full crash report for yourself, visit icbc.ca.
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