.jpg;w=120;h=120;mode=crop){kind=avatar}
North Vancouver RCMP are asking for the public’s help to find a driver who caused a crash after driving the wrong way on Highway 1 in North Vancouver.
At around 5:15 a.m. Wednesday morning, multiple witnesses called police to report a grey or silver-coloured vehicle travelling the wrong way on the Upper Levels highway.
Witnesses reported the vehicle was travelling west in the eastbound traffic lane near the Main Street exit.
Two other drivers in the eastbound highway lane narrowly avoided a head-on collision with the wrong-way vehicle, said Const. Mansoor Sahak, spokesperson for the North Vancouver RCMP.
Those vehicles were subsequently involved in a rear-end crash as one of the drivers swerved to avoid the car going the wrong way, said Sahak.
The people in those vehicles sustained minor injuries.
Witnesses last spotted the wrong-way driver, described as a man alone in the vehicle, on the highway near the Lynn Valley exit. Police attended and attempted to locate the vehicle, but were unsuccessful, said Sahak.
Police are now asking anyone who was travelling on Highway 1 in North Vancouver at around 5:15 a.m. on Wednesday – who may have witnessed the accident or have video or dash cam footage – to contact investigators at 604-985-1311, quoting police file number 23-16936.
Sahak said police are grateful the accident caused by the wrong-way driver wasn’t worse.
If the other driver hadn’t swerved to avoid the head-on collision, “It could have been a fatal,” he said.
Sahak said drivers are occasionally reported driving the wrong way on the Upper Levels. Most of the time, people have just made a mistake, but occasionally wrong-way drivers turn out to be impaired, he said.
There have been several wrong-way drivers who have caused crashes on the highway on the North Shore in the past.
In March 2014, a driver who was high on the drug GHB drove the wrong way down the highway in West Vancouver, crashing into a minivan carrying a family of four near the Capilano River bridge.
Last September, the driver of a motorhome going the wrong way on Highway 1 crashed head-on into a passenger car near the Cypress Bowl Road exit, sending several people to hospital.
Sahak said police are hoping the public will help them to identify the driver. “Our goal is to identify this driver and speak to him and hold him accountable for his actions.”
