Written by Kyle Christensen
The Labour Day long weekend has long been notorious for being the most dangerous weekend of the year on BC roadways.
Last year, 2,400 crashes occurred during the Labour Day weekend, provincewide, a jump of three hundred incidents from 2016.
ICBC Spokesperson Joanna Linsangan said there are a number of things you can do to help ensure you get where you’re going.
“Plan ahead, leave early, don’t speed, and put that phone away,” said Linsangan. “There’s a lot of potential for conflict this weekend on the road, everyone’s trying to squeeze out that last bit of summer. Drivers need to look out for cyclists, pedestrians, weekend riders, RV’s, everybody will be out and about.”
According to the insurance giant, crashes result from four activities, in particular; speed, high-risk driving, impaired driving, and distracted driving.
Linsangan says people need to be careful on BC roadways, as the numbers don’t lie when it comes to crashes on the Labour Day long weekend.
“Every year we see the most crashes and the most fatalities during this particular long weekend,” said Linsangan. ”
Motorcycle riders need to be especially careful, as the BC Coroners Service has reported that between January and July of this year, 30 motorcycle riders have died on BC roads, six of these fatalities were on Vancouver Island.
