This S Turn Has Claimed Three Lives

By 250 News

Susan and Eduardo van Dijk stand at the  end of the "S" curve which has been the scene of several accidents, including the fatal motorcycle crash on Friday    

It is one of the most notorious S curves in the region and in spite of being posted to a 60 kilometer speed it continues to claim lives.

Susan and Eduardo van-Dijk, of Willow River know all about this corner.

Since they have lived at the tail end of the curve, (at the bottom of the hill heading into Willow River on the Upper Fraser Road)  there have been three  fatal accidents and a host of others.  All  have taken place at the  same spot where 58 year old Donald Garry Dayton lost his life  last Friday.  Dayton’s motorcycle  left the road, and crashed into a small clump of  trees on the  other side of Brown’s Creek.  

Susan van-Dijk says she talked to the Ministry of Highways about the corner which is about 1 ¼ kilometers before Willow River on the Upper Fraser Road.  She told them the last section of the curve slopes in the wrong direction. “I know that a lot of the accidents have to do with people traveling too  fast for that corner" she said  "I just would like to put an end to all of the sorrow , injuries and damage that have taken place."

Susan says   drivers slide off that curve all the time "It  is not unusual to come home from town and see where a tow truck has pulled someone out of that exact same ditch or the creek while we were away. It is also not unusual to have people knock at our door in the middle of the night asking us to call a tow truck or to seek some help from us."

(at left, Susan points to the spot where vehicles have  ended up  when they  have come off the curve , slid down the bank and into Brown’s Creek)

Susan  says there have been numerous  problems on that curve "There have been 3 people die on that corner, a week or so ago another motorcyclist went off the road in that same spot, 2 logging trucks have ended up in the ditch near that culvert, a chemical truck, a school bus, a reforestation truck, grey water hauling truck, and a bunch of cars. To say that S turn is not dangerous is an understatement." she said.

Susan  says she doesn’t know what can be done,  "The Highway’s man came by  and put up a 60 kilometer sign and then said he was able to drive that corner at 80 kilometers without any problem. I don’t know what it would take to fix that road, maybe a big sign warning people of the corner , all I know is that people have been injured and died and I would like to see it come to an end."

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