A 40-year-old man from Surrey was listed in critical condition after a tractor-trailer unit and a Cadillac sedan collided on 16th Avenue between 240th and 248th Streets in Langley on Monday morning, Family Day, Feb. 19.
He was driving the Cadillac when the crash happened, around 8 a.m., sending the smaller vehicle into a ditch after it apparently struck the rear of the truck, according to investigators.
Police, fire and ambulance crews were called to the scene.
The road was closed in both directions for most of the day while accident investigators from ICARS, the Integrated Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service, examined the crash site.
Langley RCMP Sgt. Joe Leeson said while the investigation is ongoing, it appeared road conditions may have played a part in the crash.
Leeson issued a reminder that drivers need to drive “appropriate for the conditions.”
“In my experience of 26 years, weather conditions almost never cause crashes,” Leeson commented.
”It’s always drivers [who] don’t respect the weather conditions, or don’t drive for the weather – whether it’s snow, rain or fog. It’s poor driving or driver error.”
The road was reopened to traffic late Sunday afternoon.
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The 240 Street intersection gained a traffic light in 2018 as part of the 16 Avenue Corridor Improvements Project, which included pull-outs so police can safely pull vehicles over for enforcement and so slower farm vehicles could move out of the way of faster moving traffic.
ICBC reported there were fewer crashes at the three intersections where lights were installed by the Township of Langley, at 240 Street, 232 Street, and 208 Street.
From 2009 to 2013, the highest number of collisions on 16 Avenue occurred at the 208 Street and 240 Street intersections, with 39 collisions and 38 collisions, respectively.
A study of 16 Avenue by Surrey, Langley Township and Abbotsford, along with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, ICBC and TransLink noted that the 16 Avenue corridor “has a history of safety and traffic operation issues.”
It also noted the route was running 13 to 16 per cent truck traffic, compared to the “average arterial” which carries five to 10 per cent trucks.
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