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Off-road vehicle rollovers on long weekend prompt warning from Cariboo RCMP

Two UTV rollovers Sunday resulted in two people being transported to 100 Mile House Hospital
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RCMP are asking the public’s help in finding a truck that was stolen from the 5000 block of 20th Ave. NE overnight Aug. 22-23. File image

RCMP are issuing a warning to the public after two separate UTV rollovers on Sunday afternoon resulted in injuries with two victims being transported to the 100 Mile District General Hospital.

Cpl. Steve Roney of the 100 Mile RCMP detachment said the first call came in around 3:15 p.m. regarding a UTV rollover in the area of Mahood Lake Road involving a man driving with two children.

“Everybody was ejected when it rolled over and a 12-year-old youth lost consciousness as a result of a head injury. Yes, so, fortunately, nothing fatal, nothing life-threatening, nothing life-altering anything like that,” he said.

Roney said the youth was transported by BC Emergency Health Services (EHS) but did not have an update on injuries.

The driver is being charged with using or operating an off-road vehicle carelessly, allowing a minor to be a passenger without a safety helmet, and having no insurance, he said.

People have an attitude of anything goes in the Cariboo but that is just not the case, he said.

“All those same laws apply here, whether it’s a long weekend or not, or whether you’re very rural or not,” Roney said. “And, you know, these are the reasons that we have these laws. Helmets and seatbelts would have prevented this from being an event at all.”

The second call came in at 5:45 p.m. from a GPS spot SOS device to the Hendrix mine site. Two people were thrown from the UTV with one individual being pinned under the machine. Access was an issue due to the washout on that section of road so South Cariboo Search and Rescue (SCSAR) was called to retrieve both people.

There were no life-threatening or life-altering injuries and both people were conscious and talking with first responders. The passenger suffered soft tissue injuries and complained of a sore shoulder. The driver was brought out on a spine board after complaining of back pain and was transferred by EHS to the 100 Mile District General Hospital.

Roney said SCSAR did an amazing job.

“The washout was quite wide and quite deep and they did an excellent job of navigating all that safely to get everyone out.”

Neither person was wearing seat belts but they did have helmets which he said most likely saved the one person’s life. No charges are pending in the incident.

A third call came in at 6:25 p.m. while the officers were en route to Hendrix Mine. A 45-year-old female in the Deka region suffered a dirt bike collision after “throttling too hard” they were told. The woman was reported to have a laceration on her leg, a detail Roney said he could not confirm as they did not attend the incident. There was nothing to indicate there was anything untoward about the incident and they were headed to the more serious-sounding event.

While he did not have the details he mentioned there was also an ATV incident in Quesnel over the weekend.

“The message that we’re trying to say is you know, please ride safely. Wear your helmets. Wear the seatbelts in these side-by-sides. And you know, drinking and ATV’ing definitely does not mix.”



fiona.grisswell@100milefreepress.net

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Fiona Grisswell

About the Author: Fiona Grisswell

I graduated from the Writing and New Media Program at the College of New Caledonia in Prince George in 2004.
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