Fatal accident on Bamfield road a Deli?

[mararmeisto]

Westcoaster.ca identifies the vehicle as a Delica in this follow-up story.

[FalcoColumbarius]

That is sad.

Not sure if this is the best place to voice this but a close friend of mine has been getting on my case a little because of my interest in RHD vehicles. My friend is an avid cyclist and has complained to me about the amount of times he has almost been hit by RHD vehicles (mostly Delicas) as they pull out onto the street while riding his bike. Now my friend is not against RHD, in fact our company has an SCargo and my friend is an ex-owner of a Westy, and likes Delicas.

His concern is something that I think is worth mentioning. I am a former Bike Messenger and I have been hit by many cars... (super-dave style) none of which were RHD's as they weren't as common in Calgary back in the day. So I guess I just want to caution all of us to be extra aware of cyclists, particularly if you drive a RHD. For both safety and PR as I know most of us believe in alternative forms of transport. These issues can quickly make there way into the press and that's all we need.

BTW I live in Victoria and so does my friend.

Cheers,

My thoughts go out to her family.

From a former cycle courier (WC68), London, England:

• If more vehicles are RHD in Canada there will be less chance of a cyclist getting doored.
• Just because the vehicle is one of the safest ones on (or off) the road does not mean it will never get into an accident ~ the driver has a responsibility in this matter, too (not to mention the other driver as often the case).
• For the author of said article to mention that the vehicle was "Right Hand Drive" is much like mentioning that the "Woman Was Chinese" and is in my opinion somewhat irresponsible journalism. I read the article in The Province, I don't recall the nature of the vehicle being mentioned other than it was a van.

Had any LHD vehicle been in that same accident (with the tree falling on the left hand side of the vehicle) I suspect the driver would be dead, too.

I am sorry to hear about this story. My condolences to the family and friends of the young lady.

Falco.