Vehicle Collision with Tree on Beach Drive

At about 12:45 am this morning, an OBPD member was conducting stationary speed enforcement on Beach Drive. This has been an area of high risk driving so we have made a concerted effort to conduct additional speed enforcement in this area.

An orange Ford Mustang went by the member on Beach Dr after having been clocked at 73km/hr. Beach Drive is a 40 km/hr zone at that location.

The member engaged his lights and turned onto Beach. The offender vehicle collided with a tree approximately 350 meters down the road. As our member’s actions may be subject to investigation by external agencies (see para. 8 and 9), no further details can be provided at this time.

The driver and two passengers were not injured, however, a third passenger was taken to hospital by BC Ambulance with a possible vertebrae injury.

The offending driver is a 20 year old female. She is an ‘N’ driver and had three passengers. She had been consuming alcohol (blood alcohol .04) which is contrary to her licence conditions but not over the limit so as to be considered impaired or over .08.

The driver has been issued 5 violation tickets: Drive without due care, Speed in municipality, 3 x Drive Contrary to Restrictions.

The offender vehicle had several stickers on the back stating “Street racing is not a crime, well it is but f*ck it” and “Yes officer I did see the speed limit sign (I just didn’t see you)”. A sticker stating “Speed hunter” is on the windshield.

Given the potential of a serious injury to one of the passengers and possible nexus to Police actions (ie. engaging police lights), we notified the Independent Investigations Office (IIO).  However, we have since learned that the injuries were not serious and the passenger has been released from hospital. The IIO will determine whether they will assert jurisdiction or not and we will provide an update at that time. We are fully cooperating with them and providing any and all information and/or assistance they require.

Additionally, out of an abundance of caution and to ensure accountability and transparency, we notified the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner OPCC). The OPCC are assessing and will inform us whether they will be investigating the actions of our member or not. We will provide an update at that time. Similarly, we are fully cooperating with them and providing any and all information and/or assistance they require.

It is important to note that these agencies are notified to ensure accountability and transparency of Police. It is not an indication of any wrongdoing by our member. Having independent and external agencies oversee our actions and potentially hold us accountable is a very important aspect of maintaining the public’s trust and confidence.

We will provide an update once we have heard back from the IIO and OPCC. Thanks for your patience.

“The stickers on this car are indication of how immature and unaware some drivers are. This driver endangered the lives of her passengers and others and ultimately injured one of her passengers. We sincerely hope nobody has to die for these people to understand how serious this is.”

Ray Bernoties

Deputy Chief

Oak Bay Police Department