A pedestrian walking across the William R. Bennett Bridge, in the lanes of travel of Highway 97, towards West Kelowna allegedly caused a chain reaction crash late Saturday night on the span of the multi-lane bridge.
On August 10, 2019 just before 10:30 p.m., RCMP received reports of a traffic hazard from motorists who passed a shirt-less male walking westbound across the bridge.
RCMP arrived in the area to discover a chain reaction, rear-end collision involving a total of 5 motor vehicles, including a motorcycle.
“The motorcycle operator, a West Kelowna man in his 40’s, was fortunate to escape serious injuries after he was ejected from his Yamaha street bike,” states Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey. “The impact of the rear end collision ejected the rider from his bike and through the rear window of the Mercedes Benz in front of him.”
A grey Nissan Rogue, a grey GMC Yukon and a Dodge Durango, were all also involved in the crash.
BC Emergency Health Services assessed multiple vehicle occupants at the scene and transported one passenger to hospital as a precaution.
RCMP later located the pedestrian, who police believed to be under the influence of intoxicants, asleep inside a vehicle parked on the west end of the bridge.
The individual was positively identified and taken into police custody due to an un-related warrant out of the North Okanagan for his arrest.