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Man killed in Pat Bay Highway crash may have had medical emergency

Update The 65-year-old Sidney man who died when his truck flipped over the barrier on the Patricia Bay Highway may have suffered a medical emergency while driving, police say.

Update

The 65-year-old Sidney man who died when his truck flipped over the barrier on the Patricia Bay Highway may have suffered a medical emergency while driving, police say.

Rain and slush on the road may also have played a role, said Central Saanich police Const. Paul Brailey, who is leading the traffic investigation.

The deceased man is a father and grandfather, Brailey said. His name has not been released as the extended family is still being notified.

The man was driving south on the highway when he lost control. The vehicle jumped the centre barrier just south of Island View Road about 9:30 a.m. The truck slammed into a northbound blue GMC pickup truck driven by a 19-year-old novice driver, Brailey said. The truck driver walked away with minor injuries.

Traffic analysts are still compiling their report. The B.C. Coroners Service is also investigating.

Original story

A Central Saanich man died Monday morning after his pick-up truck jumped a centre barrier on the Pat Bay Highway and hit oncoming traffic, delaying northbound ferry traffic for an entire day.

The deceased driver was born in 1947, police said. His name was not released.

On a busy B.C. Family Day as drivers were headed northbound on the Pat Bay Highway toward the ferry terminal and airport, long lines of traffic were diverted off the highway at Martindale Road to Island View Road where the crash occurred.

At about 9:30 a.m. Monday, the driver of a red Ford Ranger pickup truck headed south on the Pat Bay Highway towards Victoria lost control of his vehicle and jumped the centre barrier just south of the intersection at Island View Road. The concrete divider is about two feet high.

The red pick-up slammed into a northbound oncoming blue GMC pickup driven by a man in his late teens or early 20s, police said.

The driver of the red truck died at the scene. The single occupant of the blue truck was taken to hospital with minor injuries, police said. Both vehicles ended up off the east side of the highway in a ditch. The vehicles were towed out at about 2:30 p.m.

It was raining heavily at the time of the crash, police said. The posted speed limit is 80 kilometres an hour. What caused the driver to lose control of his vehicle is under investigation, police said.

Pat Bay Highway and Island View Road

Saanich police Const. Andrew Harward, a collision reconstructionist investigating the scene, said the truck’s mechanics will be examined and its event data recorder investigated. The so-called black box of modern vehicles is not like that of an airplane but it can measure acceleration at the point the airbag was deployed, for example.

Upon impact, one of the trucks dispersed a large amount of building materials across the highway adding to the large debris field. The concrete barrier was marked but not moved. The clean up and investigation lasted well into the afternoon.

The B.C. Ministry of Transportation rerouted northbound traffic at Martindale Road along backroads, then back to the highway at Michell’s farm market. This prevented northbound traffic from turning left across southbound traffic on the highway closer to the accident scene at Island View Road.

ceharnett@timescolonist.com