A head-on collision between a motorcycle, bottom-left, and a minivan, obscured behind the ambulance, on Hwy. 3 east of Osoyoos on July 8 left the driver of the motorcycle dead. Photo by Paul Everest - Click on picture for large image

OSOYOOS TIMES-July 14, 2010

By Paul Everest - Osoyoos Times

A 55-year-old Alberta man was killed in a head-on collision on Anarchist Mountain on the evening of July 8.
The man was riding a Honda motorcycle westbound on Hwy. 3 near Bobcat Court when he crossed over the highway’s centre line at roughly 8:25 p.m. and collided with a beige Ford Freestar minivan heading east.
The man was ejected from his motorcycle and died immediately from the result of the collision while the van, driven by people from the Lower Mainland, crashed into the ditch on the east side of the highway.
Police identified the man as Lance McKay of Spruce Grove, Alta., a community roughly half-an-hour east of Edmonton.
Witnesses at the scene said four people were in the van and police said they were taken to Oliver’s South Okanagan General Hospital to be treated for minor injuries such as bumps and bruises before being released.
Witnesses also said the motorcycle hit the van’s front-left side and McKay was thrown towards the highway’s westbound curb.
Hwy. 3 was closed in both directions for several hours following the crash while investigators analyzed the scene.
Crews from the Osoyoos and Anarchist Mountain volunteer fire departments responded to the crash along with local RCMP and ambulance crews.
John Nett, chief of the Anarchist Mountain Fire Department, said the highway was reopened at 12:40 a.m.
He added that at about 10 p.m., a private paramedic had to be allowed past the crash site to attend to someone living on Sidley Mountain Road, east of where the crash happened, to deal with a medical emergency.
The South Okanagan Traffic Services are continuing to investigate the crash with the British Columbia Coroners Service.
Police said in a media release that they will likely not pursue any criminal charges in the matter.
news@osoyoostimes.com