In Memoriam

2003

December 13 - A 19-year-old youth died instantly after he was struck by a car while attempting to run across the Pat Bay Highway at Sayward Road. The youth was one of a number of teens who were in a vehicle at the intersection about 11 p.m., but as the driver stopped for the red light, the youth jumped out of the back seat and tried to run across the highway on the red light. The driver of a Jeep, coming south at highway speed and seeing the green light in front of him, had no chance to brake or avoid the youth.

November 28 - An elderly man was killed when the car he was driving collided with another at the intersection of Cook and Haultain Streets. The crash occurred in bad weather just at dusk -- about 5 p.m.

November 24 - A 17-year-old youth was killed when he lost control of the car he was driving on the Pat Bay highway just north of Sayward Road, near Blackie's Restaurant. The car sheared off a power pole, and the young man, who was the only person in the car, was killed almost instantly. It was raining heavily at the time, and police say that while the youth may not have been exceeding the posted speed limit, he was going too fast for the road conditions. He was driving a car which he had purchased only three days earlier.

November 19 - An elderly woman died after being struck by a vehicle on Battleford Street near the Tillicum Mall in Saanich. The woman was found lying in the road, and at first police were unsure whether she had been the victim of a motor vehicle collision, or had suffered some type of medical problem and fallen. However, detailed pathology tests eventually revealed she had suffered injuries compatible with having been struck by a vehicle, possibly by the outside mirror of a truck-type vehicle.

November 6 - A 39-year-old woman died when the car she was driving went off the road on West Saanich Road near the base of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, and hit a tree. She was the only person in the car at the time of the crash, about 1:40 a.m. Neighbours heard the sounds of the crash, but the area is so dark they could not locate the vehicle until emergency vehicles with stronger lights arrived on the scene.

UPDATE to November 3 crash - The fourth person who was in the car that crashed succumbed to his injuries and died on Nov. 9, six days after the crash. The 20-year-old male was another passenger in the death car, and had suffered irreversible brain damage.

November 3 - Three young people -- males 20 and 17 and a 17-year-old female -- were killed instantly in a devastating high-speed, single-vehicle crash on the TransCanada Highway near the McKenzie/Admirals intersection. The three, plus a fourth youth who was critically injured, were jammed into a two-seater sports car which was heading into town along the highway at speeds estimated to be at least 160 kilometres per hour. The driver, believed to be the 17-year-old male, lost control, and the car spun out of control, hit the median and flipped end over end several times, crossing all lanes of traffic and ending up in the ditch on the opposite side of the highway.

October 25 - An 83-year-old woman died in hospital nine days after she was struck by a minivan while crossing Quebec Street at Oswego in James Bay. The incident occurred during a torrential rainstorm which, combined, with the dark reduced visibility almost to zero. The woman was one of four pedestrians crossing the street in two pairs. The first pair made it across safely, but the van struck both women in the second pair. The other was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

October 2 - A 90-year-old man was killed when he was struck by a car as he tried to cross Sooke Road at Phillips Road in Sooke.  The intersection does not have any street lights or crosswalks, and the RCMP reported it was dusk with patches of fog at the time.

September 27 - A 21-year-old woman was killed when she was hit by a taxi as she ran across Oak Bay Avenue to her apartment building. The woman was returning from a night of celebrating with friends and had taken a cab home about 2:30 a.m. She got out of the cab on the opposite side of the road to her home, went around the rear of the taxi, and began to cross the street. However, before reaching the other side, she was struck by a second taxi that was also coming down the avenue. She was taken to hospital but died hours later from severe head injuries.

July 19 - Two 19-year-old men were killed instantly in a single-vehicle crash on the Old Island Highway near the Fort Victoria trailer park shortly before 4 a.m. The two were both passengers in a 1963 car which went out of control and slammed into a concrete utility pole with such force that the pole itself was moved almost a metre from its base. The driver was critically injured; a third passenger received less severe injuries. Excessive speed is believed to have been a major factor in the crash.

June 30 - A 24-year-old man who was waiting to cross McKenzie Avenue as a pedestrian was killed in an horrific crash at Borden Ave. in Saanich. The man was struck by a pickup truck which spun off the road after colliding with another car; the force of the impact was so great that he was crushed and pinned between the truck and a utility pole. Numerous witnesses told Saanich police it appeared the truck had sped up in an attempt to make it through an amber light. In the middle of the intersection, it struck the other vehicle which had been making a left-hand turn. The impact caused it to go off the road and onto the sidewalk.

June 25 - A 39-year-old man died when the LandCruiser he was driving failed to negotiate a turn on the gravel road coming down from Mount Tuam on Saltspring Island. The vehicle hit a tree and rolled. His passenger suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

June 14 - An 18-year-old youth who was a passenger in a car died after the driver lost control on West Saanich Road in North Saanich, and the car flipped upside down into a ditch.  Two other passengers, young women aged 16 and 18, were seriously injured.  RCMP say speed and alcohol were factors in the crash; the teens were heading home just before 4 a.m. after attending a birthday party at the home of one of their friends.

May 31 - A newly-licensed 19-year old driver was killed and four other people injured when he lost control of the car he was driving on Cedar Hill Road near Church Street, in Saanich.  Saanich police said it appeared the car was going at least 90 kilometres per hour in a 50 kph zone when it clipped a pickup truck going in the oppposite direction.

May 10 - A 51-year-old man died when he lost control of the sports car he was driving on Chalet Road in North Saanich and it slammed into a rock pillar.

March 15 - A motorcyclist died in a crash on the Pat Bay Highway near Island View Road. The southbound motorcycle hit the median and the driver was thrown into the northbound lane where he was struck by another vehicle.

February 21 - A 23-year-old man was killed when the car in which he was a pssenger left the Esquimalt Lagoon bridge in the early morning hours and plunged into the water beneath.

February 14 - An 82-year-old woman died from injuries suffered when she was hit by an SUV while she was crossing West Saanich Road in a marked pedestrian crosswalk in Brentwood Bay.

February 12 - A 91-year-old woman died from injuries suffered when she was hit by a minivan while she was crossing Douglas Street in a marked pedestrian crosswalk just across from Beacon Hill Park.
Also, a 72-year-old woman was killed in a crash in the View Street parkade. The woman drove her car into the wall of the parkade, located in the 700 block View Street, and suffered fatal injuries.

February 7 - A 23-year-old man was killed instantly when the sports car he was driving was T-boned by a B.C. ambulance speeding to a call with emergency lights and sirens activated. The driver tried to make a left-hand turn while the ambulance was passing on the left-hand side as both vehicles were going west on Hillside Avenue in Victoria. The crash came less than three weeks after police, firefighters and ambulance paramedics had put out a special plea for drivers in the Capital Region to take greater care when emergency vehicles are nearby.

January 25 - A 78-year-old woman died after her car shot across a gas station parking lot and into a tree just after she finished gassing up. She is believed to have had a heart attack immediately before the crash.

2002 In Memoriam
2004 In Memoriam