A vehicle driving the wrong way on Highway 1 caused a multi-vehicle crash as an indirect result of a previous collision that closed the road.
On Nov. 16 at 7 p.m., the Sicamous RCMP were called to the second collision near Oxbow Frontage Road in Malakwa. Officers determined that a Kia Soul had been heading west in the slow lane when the driver had been forced to stop because of traffic resulting from a prior collision to the west.
"The driver of the Kia then turned around and began to drive eastbound in the westbound fast lane of the four lane section of the Trans-Canada Highway," Sgt. Murray McNeil said in a media release, adding the vehicle then collided head on with a Peterbuilt semi that was westbound in the fast lane.
"The collision caused a chain reaction which resulted in two other vehicles being struck."
One of those was a Dodge pickup truck that held a family with three children under the age of seven riding in the back seat. BC Ambulance took the family of five and the driver of the Kia to hospital in Salmon Arm where all were release without any significant injuries.
The driver of the Kia was charged with Driving Without Due Care and Attention, though McNeil noted there was "heavy snowfall at the time of the collision."