Fatal crash on Highway 97 near Vernon claims two lives
BCHP Media Release
On August 5, 2022 at approximately 8:30 AM, Vernon/North Okanagan RCMP and Emergency Services responded to a multi-vehicle collision on Highway 97 just south of the Vernon Cadet Camp.
Upon arrival it was determined that a southbound pickup, described as a red GMC, entered the opposing lane and made contact with an oncoming vehicle. The red pickup then collided with a second oncoming vehicle, a black Toyota SUV, killing both occupants, a man (71 years old) and woman (65 years old) both from Vancouver. The driver of the pickup truck was taken to hospital with undetermined injuries.
Impaired driving is suspected as a contributing cause to this collision and BC Highway Patrol Falkland has assumed conduct of the investigation with assistance from Vernon/North Okanagan RCMP, the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service and the BC Coroners’ Service. Where criminality is suspected as a causal factor in a fatal collision, BC Highway Patrol’s Criminal Collision Investigation Team is activated to assist investigators due, in part, to the complexity of these lengthy and technical investigations.
Anyone with information regarding this collision, including any dashboard camera video, is asked to contact BCHP Falkland at 250-379-2164 and cite file 2022-3607.
