I have traveled that road quite a bit and the is slight incline just before where Telechick reconnects that for some reason can be extremely slippery when the rest of the road is good don’t know if it is because it is shaded or drainage issues but I always lift the right foot and grip a little tighter to the wheel there.

Sympathy to the families of those involved.

This is a very dangerous highway. Horrible combination of bad road conditions and bad decision making.

It would be nice if this stretch could be doubled and separated.

Please take care everyone, get home safe!

And where are the sand trucks. This stretch of road is always icy at this time of year.

Looks like there is sand/gravel on the road in the top picture. That may have been there after the fact.

When temperatures hover around freezing, the combination of water and icy conditions below make for very slippery roads.

There is sand there now…
The Prince George Highways district has always been poorly maintained.
I suspect is isn’t the fault of employees who I’m sure would want to do better.
But blame rests on the management in the district. (Whom I would fire if it was up to me.)
Same company, but Vanderhoof’s roads are pristine by comparison. And they get the same per mile of road in each district, so money isn’t the problem.
Tragic that safety is constantly compromised for budgetary concerns.

Another picture in the CBC piece also shows sand on the road, the inline I spoke about is in the background. Patch of black ice the likely cause.

That road to Vanderhoof needs to be four lane.. Too much traffic on it at all times..
Condolances to the families

The highway to Vanderhoof is always claiming lives….much like the sea to sky….you would think highways would try to find solutions that would prevent these tragedies from happening so often.

Lots of vehicles pass dangerously in winter months

We have lost too many people on this highway. We need four lanes and am getting tired of listening to people in Vancouver complaining of their 4 to 6 lanes . All the transport trucks and logging trucks that are on the roads are hazardous in these conditions. The wealth that goes to Victoria , it is time for all of us to start protesting for better roads if they want to still make billions of dollars on the resources that come from the north. My condolences to the families of this most recent accident, I am so sorry

I was traveling 16 West last night and yes the road had icy areas, yes the over head signs stated black ice, and extreme conditions, yes the road had been sanded, and no people were not slowing down, still driving like it was summer! My condolences to the family!

Hey gus, here is another one that doesn’t have a semi involved

Slinky-Someone died in this accident!
CONDOLENCES to the families.
Having lived here since the 50’s–that’s a nasty piece of road. The weather probably had a lot to do with it.

My condolences to the families involved, but I wonder if the trucks involved had winter tires on, or M+S tires or all season tires. Quebec has mandated the use of winter tires there after many tragic fatalities. Perhaps it is time to look at that here. I seem to recall a horrific accident a few years ago, a little farther west on the same highway that took the lives of four people. The car involved had on all season tires.

If you agree with the need for winter tires, you can give your feedback to the government here
[url]http://www.gov.bc.ca/safetyandspeedreview/[/]

Sorry, bad link above , here it is

http://www.gov.bc.ca/safetyandspeedreview/

Sure we can blame the weather, blame the highway department, blame the semi’s, blame the tires . . . . . . . . . .
What about the driver? Thats right, YOU the person behind the wheel! SLOW DOWN!!!

constructionmom, bravo, someone got it right!

I drive this highway frequently and no matter what the weather conditions are alot of people are driving too aggressively and taking risky chances. Not saying that this was a factor in this accident but in general on that highway I’ve noticed it’s busier and there are more people doing stupid stuff lately..

When I moved out here I was immediately struck by two things once winter hit:

1) The number of vehicles on the road wearing winter tires. They are FAR more common out here than in the PG area. That goes for cars, trucks and SUV’s.

2) The way people drive in winter conditions. I really hate to generalize, but I think people are far more defensive here, almost to the point where traffic can be too slow sometimes. On the freeway, it’s quite common to have traffic settle into a fl

Oops not sure what happened there!

Anyway, was saying it’s common to see traffic settle into a flow of 70-80 Kmh on the freeway, when this same road in the summer is a 120 Kmh norm. You just rarely see people pushing the limits and this is on safe, multilane divided highways. Maybe the traffic volumes force people to be more cautious, I’m not sure.

I think that quite often these accidents come down to the need to slow down, but we also need to accept that fact that sometimes people can do everything right and accidents will still happen. It’s hard to know what occurred in this situation and my condolences go out to the families of those involved.

No need for an investigation. The experts here have it figured out.

Posted by: ntkr13 on November 29 2013 2:18 PM
Slinky-Someone died in this accident!

So did they a week ago here:

blog/view/30198/1/one+dead+in+fiery+crash+at+burns+lake?id=140&st=60

No disrespect to the tragedy of loss of life, but noone was really shocked when comments went against truckers

Any loss of life along this highway is tragic, we lost a few friends just at the edge of city limits about the same time in the morning a few short winters ago on the very same highway. And no a semi truck was not involved but it did involve a vehicle crossing the centerline and a head on collision

as someone who knew these people, it is revolting to have to even comment on here to say that this photo should not be posted. no one needs to see the damage done because it’s hard enough to come to terms with what has happened. for the family, friends, and community members, please take down this photo. no one needs to have the image of someone they knew being involved in something that horrific.

Yes there was sand but I was told it was after the collision but I don’t know for sure. Being the first vehicle there when CVSE shut the road down I know what the conditions were at the scene. Heavy wet snow at 5:30 in the morning for an hour or so iced up the highway. This compacted and melted somewhat becoming an opaque color ice with the warm temp a thin layer of moisture on the top by mid morning. Very slippery conditions.
So far this year I have found YRB doing an adequate job. They can not be every where at once as conditions change in the span of a few minutes to a half hour and can go from drivable to dangerous in a very shot time. This is not to say the YRB can not improve. They surely could. But it is imperative to take these conditions into account when we are driving.

I agree with time out and Student 4.
I also know this family and was on the road at the same time, going the same way. It was very icy. We don’t know what happened and to cast blame or postulate on who was at fault is irrelevant now. We, the community of Burns Lake, are heartbroken for the loss and suffering that will be felt for this recent accident and other recent acceidents for a VERY long time. This is a tragedy pure and simple, both for those we lost and the family members left behind to grieve.

Sure was a lot of fresh looking gravel on the road in all the photos I’ve seen of the crash.

Freshly sanded post crash.