This story has been amended to include an update on the victim's status.
Police have been cleared of any wrongdoing in a serious collision involving a motorcyclist at a speed check on the Upper Levels Highway in West Vancouver last week.
On July, 18, members of the BC Highway Patrol’s Fraser Coast Integrated Road Safety unit were searching for speeders on Highway 1 near the Cypress Bowl Road exit when a woman on a Harley-Davidson crashed into the back of a Ford F150 pickup truck.
She was taken to hospital to be treated for serious injuries, and the collision investigation choked highway traffic for several hours.
The next day, the Independent Investigations Office, the province’s watchdog tasked with investigating all cases of death or serious harm involving police, announced they would be reviewing the incident to see whether “police actions or inactions” may have played a role in the collision.
After interviewing independent witnesses, the IIO has since wrapped that investigation. It found drivers steadily slowed their speed when they spotted police, who were on the shoulder “with adequate space to conduct road checks safely,” a release from the IIO stated.
“The [chief civilian director] has reviewed the evidence and determined that the actions of police were not responsible for the collision. The truck decreased speed slowly as is usual upon observing a speed check, and the female motorcyclist did not slow correspondingly to avoid a collision. The IIO investigation is now concluded,” the release stated.
West Vancouver police now have responsibility to investigate the cause of the crash itself.
As of July 27, West Vancouver police say the victim is now stable and is likely to make a full recovery. The collision remains under investigation and no decisions have been made about charges or tickets.
The BC Highway Patrol has not yet responded to a request for comment.
