A vehicle was left standing on its end and twisted among tree branches after a single-vehicle collision in White Rock on Christmas Day.

White Rock resident Mahsa Soraya said the collision occurred near the end of Archibald Road.

鈥淭he car would have (rammed) into someones home and killed people in their living room had it not been stopped by the tree,鈥� Soraya wrote to Peace Arch News.

Soraya placed part of the blame on the City of White Rock.

鈥淚t is amazing that with all the taxes we pay the roads cannot be salted properly causing accidents in our neighbourhood,鈥� Soraya wrote.

Another White Rock resident, Alex Galo, described it as a 鈥渧ery scary accident.鈥�

鈥淎 midsize white sedan was driving down the steep hill of Archibald in very perilous icy conditions. The car started to slide down the road then was launched in the air. Fortunately, a sturdy tree stopped its flight path. If that tree had not been there, this car would surely have crashed into the living room of the house located roughly 20 feet from the car鈥檚 current location,鈥� Galo emailed PAN.

Galo said the collision occurred near the Archibald and Sunset Drive intersection, which he described as 鈥渆xtremely dangerous in fresh snow situations.鈥�

鈥淚 believe we can be more effective in our strategy of snow clearance and salting with the limited resources we have. Priority must be given to zones around steep intersections,鈥� Galo wrote.

White Rock director of engineering Jim Gordon said the Archibald and Sunset area has not yet been plowed because it isn鈥檛 a priority one or priority two route.

Priority one and priority two routes include bus routes, collector routes and emergency routes.

Right now, Gordon said, the city is working on garbage truck routes.

鈥淚n most cases, there鈥檚 ways around the real steepness,鈥� Gordon said. 鈥淵ou can probably visualise Oxford鈥� I don鈥檛 know if you even want to walk down there.鈥�

If there isn鈥檛 a detour around steep slopes, Gordon suggested taking a bus may be the safest option. Gordon said he鈥檚 also cautious about sending plows to areas where there鈥檚 a heightened risk of a plow losing control.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 want them to take chances.鈥�

White Rock RCMP staff Sgt. Kale Pauls said the cause of the collision appears to be a combination of snowy road conditions and a driver unfamiliar with winter driving.

Pauls said the motorist was checked by paramedics and they appeared uninjured.

鈥淲hite Rock has many hills that challenge winter rated tires. If you must drive the snow-covered secondary roads, going 10 km/h is acceptable,鈥� Pauls emailed PAN.

aaron.hinks@peacearchnews.com
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