6 dead, 17 injured as wedding party mowed down by pickup truck in Abbotsford

[SFUVancouver]

71-year-old driver released in what police are calling a 'terrible tragedy'

Six people are dead and at least 17 others are injured after a truck plowed through a crowd leaving a pre-wedding celebration in Abbotsford in B.C.'s Fraser Valley on Friday night, police say. [more]

This is a tragedy, no question about it, but it also brings up two troubling issues associated with life in the suburbs:

-The first involves the age of the pickup truck driver, 71, and the necessity for an aging population to continue driving in our predominately automobile-dependent society. Seniors, especially men, have greater difficulty driving at night.
-The second involves the utter lack of pedestrian infrastructure almost everywhere in the suburbs. The pre-wedding party were walking alongside the road in the shoulder because there are no sidewalks and there were no streetlights in that section of the road.

[SpongeG]

i heard

did you hear about the hot air baloon accident?

Witnesses describe horrific fiery crash
TERRI THEODORE

Canadian Press

August 25, 2007 at 3:27 PM EDT

SURREY, B.C. — As a hot-air balloon burst into flames and plummeted into an RV park, killing two people, a horrific scene of chaos and a raging inferno ensued, witnesses said.

“I saw the balloon coming down on the front of the trailer and when it hit, it exploded,” said Karen Ashby.

“There were flames and fire, people running. Everybody was in a panic. It was a shock. It was like a war zone here.”

Family members of the two victims were among those who stood powerless on the ground Friday evening, watching as the flaming balloon crashed directly into a trailer.

Sergeant Roger Morrow of Surrey RCMP said the victims will not be identified until at least early next week to give the family a chance to recover from the shock of what they witnessed.

Eleven people were taken by ground and air ambulances to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Three trailers were destroyed, but luckily about seven people in the trailers got out safely, said Ralph Zandergen, the owner of Hazelmere Trailer Park.

There is little left of the three trailers now, said Mr. Zandergen, and the one in the middle that was directly hit is just a pile of ashes and a few propane tanks.

Mike Braden, 48, a resident of the RV park, said he looked out his window to see the balloon and its basket in flames.

“The basket broke and it dropped on the trailer and beside the truck,” he said.

“It was totally engulfed in flames. (After it crashed), tires were blowing and a few propane tanks went off and it was just an inferno.”

One day later the smell of burnt plastic and smoke still permeates the area and puddles of plastic dot the ground.

Ms. Ashby, 50, held back tears while she explained how she watched the coroner sift through the blackened wreckage.

“They found the bodies in here,” she said. “I watched them take them out.”

Though the scene of destruction has Ashby shaken up, she defended the actions of the balloon pilot. She said both her children and her husband have been up in a balloon with the same pilot.

She said he was very responsible and that “you couldn't ask for a better person that flies that balloon.”

“That was a pure accident. Something malfunctioned. Something went wrong. That man would have never done anything if he would have thought there would be any harm to anybody.”

The Transportation Safety Board is investigating. Police say it's premature to speculate on a cause.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl.../BNStory/Front

[cornholio]

The people were not walking along the side of the road but were walking through the middle of the road. In my opinion this is the result of not only a elderly driver who probably shouldent of been driving anymore but also a group of people that were negligent and ignorant and many of them paid for it with their life. Maybe next time they will either walk on the side of the road or get a city permit to take up the road and have a police car present to warn and slow down traffic. Looks like their at fault and I hope ICBC or victims compensation doesnt give them a dime if this is the case. Sorry if I sound a bit harsh but some times you have to draw a line, and with 6+billion people in the world I only have enough sympathy to go around for those that are not at fault for the bad stuff that happens to them...I do feel sorry for the driver though, what a crappy situation to get put in(assuming he wasnt driving overly recklessly)

[djp]

Well, obviously he was. I really don't think you can plow through a group of 30 people, killing 6 of them, unless you are "driving recklessly." What most people consider safe driving is actually fairly reckless. My guess is he was either a) zoned out, or b) speeding, or some combination of the two. Those two factors also apply to most other drivers on B.C. roads most of the time. The fact that the pedestrians were also doing something they shouldn't have doesn't negate the driver's role in the accident.

71 isn't all that "elderly" either, but if he was incompetent to drive due to his age, then he shouldn't have been on the road to begin with.

[Yume-sama]

It's a terrible tragedy, unbelievable, really. Just watching the story on the news right now, they're still going to go through with the wedding.

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by djp

Well, obviously he was. I really don't think you can plow through a group of 30 people, killing 6 of them, unless you are "driving recklessly." What most people consider safe driving is actually fairly reckless. My guess is he was either a) zoned out, or b) speeding, or some combination of the two. Those two factors also apply to most other drivers on B.C. roads most of the time. The fact that the pedestrians were also doing something they shouldn't have doesn't negate the driver's role in the accident.

71 isn't all that "elderly" either, but if he was incompetent to drive due to his age, then he shouldn't have been on the road to begin with.

i agree

[cornholio]

Originally Posted by djp

Well, obviously he was. I really don't think you can plow through a group of 30 people, killing 6 of them, unless you are "driving recklessly." What most people consider safe driving is actually fairly reckless. My guess is he was either a) zoned out, or b) speeding, or some combination of the two. Those two factors also apply to most other drivers on B.C. roads most of the time. The fact that the pedestrians were also doing something they shouldn't have doesn't negate the driver's role in the accident.

71 isn't all that "elderly" either, but if he was incompetent to drive due to his age, then he shouldn't have been on the road to begin with.

If he shouldent of been on the road to begin with is not his problem, thats ICBC's since a elderly person canot be realy held responsibel for not knowing wether or not their still fit to drive because of their age. thats ICBC job..some psychology classes would help people understand this fact. In the end even if he was speeding(which 95% of people do on tht stretch of road) then the blame is still on the procession because they had no business marching down the midle of a non lit street in the middle of nowhere. The fact that a car that was suposed to have hazard lights on and travel ahead of them and another one behind them arived late is no excuses, and even if it arived on time then that still is technicly not legal. They were negligent and payed for it while probably destroying (from what I understand a inocent) mans life. Sad but true. Again I dont mean to be harsh but I try to always have a open mind and think logicly when I look towards these type of situations.

If as you say a majority of people drive recklesly then that doesnt change the fact that the people shouldent of been walking down the midle of the street infact it makes it even that much more ignorant of a action.

[SFUVancouver]

That the party was walking in the middle of the road is news to me. The CBC article I cited quoted Abbotsford RCMP Const. Casey Vinet saying "Early indications are that they were on the shoulder of the roadway,"

Neither the CBC or GlobeandMail.com stories say the party was in the middle of the street when struck, was that what was on the news?

It would certainly change things if they were indeed walking down the centre of the road. Doing so at any time, let alone at night along an unlit stretch of road, puts one's life at risk and one can only fault the driver so much. However it doesn't change the fact that there is no pedestrian infrastructure or street lighting, two factors that would almost certainly have avoided such a tragedy. I also stand by my concern about senior citizens driving, and at 71 years old one definitely is legally a senior.

Couple slower physical response time, poorer night vision, and unlit roads lacking pedestrian infrastructure and you have accidents, and tragedies, waiting to happen. I am certainly not saying banish seniors from the road, far from it, but I recognize there are natural physiological changes that come with age and society and their governments should address these head on whilst ensuring seniors' dignity. I am not solely blaming age for this tragedy but based on the news reports I have seen and the location of the collision I do believe age is a contributing factor.

[Holden West]

As a child I learned that when walking down a country road like this one should always walk on the left, ie: facing oncoming traffic so that you can easily see oncoming traffic, and they can see you.

It's a shame when a child has more common sense than dozens of adults.

[SpongeG]

yeah they were walking down the side of the road - there wasn't much and there was a group of 30 people - i doubt they were walking single file

they were suppossed to have a car with blinkers following behind them but the car had not joined them or something as the group had just left the driveway of the house

its very easy to be distracted when driving and especially at that time when its getting dark - and that area doesn't have street lights - i know driving to my friends in aldergrove its very hard to see anything until the last minute unless you drive with your high beams on

[cornholio]

SFUVancouver I completely agree with you. What should happen is that after a certain age a driver should be required to pass a driving test or physical exam or both once a year or at least once every couple years. As far as infrastructure gos in the suburbs I also agree with you, unfourtunetly the area where it happened was more farmland then suburban. But to tell you the truth this could of happened to any driver on that stretch of road, shouldent but could of. Unless this guy was going well over a 100 I woul hardly call this speeding...in fact most rural roads like that have speed limits of 80, which in my opinion is often way to low. Holden west your right about the country road thing, its not the same as being a pedestrian or bicyclist in the city where drivers expect you...different rules apply.

[CrooklynDodger]

So sad.

[SpongeG]

4 of the victims were from Ontario, 1 from California and 1 from here