A youth seen on social media who appears to be deliberately riding a bike into traffic on the Inland Island Highway was potentially endangering both themselves and any drivers in the area, says Campbell River RCMP Const. Maury Tyre.
He said a complaint was received Thursday from the person who caught the activity on their dashcam.
“They were actually driving a transport truck, which made it even more dangerous with what could have happened there,” Tyre said. “Fortunately the driver was paying attention well enough that nobody did get injured.”
The video shows one person on a bike and another filming what is going on, he said.
Tyre said the stunt was pulled on the stretch of highway between Willis Road and Jubilee Parkway.
“It’s extremely dangerous behaviour and it’s putting people’s lives in jeopardy,” he said. “At this point we don’t have identification for the two individuals.”
There have been a few similar incidents over the summer, Tyre said.
They have involved youths on both mountain bikes and electric motorbikes that aren’t road legal but can reach speeds of 80 kilometres per hour.
“It’s the same kind of thing, riding down the road, entering into off-lanes of traffic,” Tyre said.
Blaine Betts said he instantly recognized the people in the video. “It was the same kid that almost did a wheelie into my Audi.”
Betts said he was driving eastbound on Hilchey Road in early August after a late morning breakfast when that incident occurred.
It happened so fast, he only had two options, he said: “Slam on the brakes, or swerve into oncoming traffic.”
He was too taken aback to identify that two people he had seen, but he guessed the youths were between 12 to 14 years of age, Betts said.
Betts said he was shocked by how many other people have shared near-identical experiences in various parts of Campbell River on social media.
“It’s not only risky for the kids,” he said. “If somebody hit that kid, that’d be something you’d have to deal with forever.”
Graham Attwell was driving a transport truck south on Highway 19 near Campbell River toward Jubilee Parkway when he noticed two young people riding their bikes towards him on the shoulder.
“I see cyclists all the time and generally move over a little – and then I just noticed this kid at the last minute just shoot out doing a wheelie right in front of my truck. It just scared the crap out of me,” he told CHEK News.
A dashcam captured video of some of what happened.
“Yeah, if someone was beside me it definitely would have been an accident of some sort, and I would have done everything to try to not hit the kid,” he said.
He veered left, knowing the next lane was clear. “Heart was going and at that point initially I didn’t know if I did hit him or not, so I had to pull over to calm down and I took about 10 minutes just sitting there.”
Tyre said there have even been cases of the activity happening after dark on unlit bikes.
“It’s extremely important that parents know what their kids are doing,” Tyre said.
The video has generated some comments saying it is just kids having some harmless fun.
“It’s kids having harmless fun until someone is dead,” Tyre said.
Anyone with information about these incidents is encouraged to contact Campbell River RCMP at 250-286-6221.
Video produced by Alanna Kelly
