UCLUELET — A 78-year-old Ucluelet woman out for her daily walk was killed just before 8 a.m. Thursday when a driver lost control of a truck pulling a loaded boat trailer.
The vehicle jack-knifed and the woman, who was walking on the trail beside Highway 4, died at the scene.
RCMP investigators and the B.C. Coroners Service and traffic analysts were at the scene.
Alcohol was not a factor in the accident, said Sgt. Jeff Swann of the Ucluelet RCMP and the road was clear at the time.
“Somehow the boat started fish-tailing coming down the hill and jack-knifed the truck,” Swann said.
The vehicle was travelling in the same direction as the woman was walking, so she never knew what hit her.
“A witness [who] saw it said she didn’t look back. She didn’t see it happening,” Swann said.
“She had her bright yellow jacket on. … She was just walking down the road, the vehicle lost control and ran into her. She was killed instantly.”
Mounties were on scene by 8:05 a.m. and attempted CPR, but the woman could not be revived, he said.
The paved trail is separated from the roadway by grass and a ditch.
The back end of the trailer came to rest in the trees.
The vehicle’s two occupants were coming from Vancouver to the West Coast to go clam fishing. Another companion was following them in a Jeep. None of the three was hurt.
The woman’s identity was not being released, pending notification of next of kin.
Community members expressed shock and loss, as the victim is well known in Ucluelet.
“To have this happen at this exact moment when she’s here [walking the trail], it’s beyond words,” Swann said. “It’s beyond fathoming at this point, for all of us.”
