A crash involving a pickup, a tractor-trailer, icy roads and a deer caused a traffic tie-up on Highway 97 south of Lac la Hache on the morning of Nov. 24, and it also resulted in minor injuries and a fender bender.
A man in a black Toyota pickup travelling southbound on the highway struck a deer that had jumped suddenly out in front of him in the corners at 112 Mile, says 100 Mile House RCMP Traffic Services Cpl. Tim Lyons.
Road conditions were "very slippery" and the pickup then slid into the northbound lane, he explains, where a Canadian Freightways tractor-trailer driver unsuccessfully attempted to avoid a collision by pulling off to the shoulder.
Despite evasive efforts by the tractor-trailer driver, the big truck struck the Toyota's passenger side with an impact that demolished the smaller vehicle and left the door stuck in its grill, Lyons notes.
He says the tractor-trailer driver did "a very good job" of both trying to avoid a collision and maintaining the vehicle on its wheels as he rode it out into the ditch.
"The [pickup] driver was seat-belted and suffered, I believe, a broken arm, which he's very lucky [to escape with]. He was rushed to hospital, but was released later that day."
The causal factors were the deer and the slippery road conditions, Lyons adds.
Compounding the incident, a 108 Mile Ranch Volunteer Fire Department (108MRVFD) rescue vehicle was slowing down to attend the scene when it was rear-ended by a red Dodge pickup.
Fire chief Marcelle Ried says the roads were icy and the pickup slid into the back of the rescue vehicle, which sustained "very minor" damage.