RCMP: Truckers and cyclists and stunting, oh my
By Kyra Hoggan
Several vehicular incidents kept police on their toes this past week, according to Castlegar RCMP Sgt. Laurel Mathew.
Tuesday evening at around 6:20 p.m., a 30-wheel freightliner transport truck was driving near the 100 block of Highway 3 toward Grand Forks, when he saw a couple of cyclists, Mathew said.
“According to the driver, he waved at them to let them know he saw them, then moved into the oncoming lane to avoid them,” Mathew said. “Then he said he saw a tractor-trailer coming around the corner toward them, and moved back into his own lane.”
The driver said he checked rearview mirrors and saw a cloud of dust but no bicycles, and so pulled over to the side of the highway.
Mathew said the driver then got out of his vehicle and walked toward the duo, at which point the cyclist who was still on his bike punched the driver in the side of the head. The driver returned to his cab and called police.
“Police spoke to the assailant, who said the first trailer of the truck came very close, and the second trailer hit his friend and knocked him to the ground,” Mathew said, adding the assailant said he didn’t see any other truck in the oncoming lane.
The fallen cyclist was taken away by ambulance and treated for minor injuries.
“There’s a possibility there will be charges stemming from this incident, but at this point, we’re still investigating,” Mathew said.
Then Wednesday morning saw a woman driving a Toyota Four-runner on the Bombi just east of Castlegar swerve to avoid a deer at roughly 8:30 a.m.
“She rolled the vehicle, but was uninjured,” Mathew said.
The wee hours of Thursday morning brought RCMP another vehicle-related call – but this situation was no accident.
“Just after midnight, two people called saying there was a car doing burn-outs on Columbia Avenue near the Castle Theatre,” Mathew said. “They were squealing forward and backward, laying all kinds of rubber and smoke. (Two members) were about a block away and responded.”
The driver and his friend were sitting outside the vehicle, one of them enjoying a beer … until they were told what they were doing is called ‘stunting’ and comes with a seven-day impounding of the car.
“Columbia Avenue is a thoroughfare, not a playground, and stunting is against the law,” Mathew said.
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