New data from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) shows concerning trends for some of the more accident-prone intersections in Smithers.
Smithers recorded 20 crashes in 2021 that resulted in injury or death according to ICBC data.
There were 36 crashes reported that resulted in only property damage bringing the total number of crashes in 2021 to 56 in Smithers.
Over the past five years, there have been 397 crashes reported in Smithers.
The Hwy 16 and King Street intersection is by the far the most dangerous location in town. That intersection has seen 31 crashes in the past five years.
Next worse is the North Business Frontage Road and Queen Street, where 19 crashes have occurred followed by: Hwy 16 and Tatlow Road (14), Hwy 16 and 16th Ave. (13) and Hwy 16 and Main St. (11).
Of note, the data provided by ICBC does not include parking lots or crashes involving parked vehicles. Crash location is also self-reported and is not always verifiable.
Although still far below pre-pandemic levels, intersections in B.C. continue to be the site of tens of thousands of car crashes per year. In 2021 alone, ICBC logged 87,000 intersection car crashes, up from 74,000 in 2020, but significantly down from 110,000 in 2018. The total number of reported crashes for Terrace was 116 in 2021.
Of those recorded last year, the vast majority continued to occur in the Lower Mainland, where there were 65,000 crashes, 40,000 of which resulted in injury. The next riskiest region was Vancouver Island with 9,900 crashes (5,300 injuries), followed by the Southern Interior with 9,100 crashes (4,900 injuries) and North Central with 2,800 (1,200 injuries).
The worst intersections overall in the North Central region are all in Prince George, with 41 crashes at the intersection between Highway 16 West and Tyner Boul./Domano Boul. topping the list for 2021. Crash location information is self-reported, not always verifiable and the data doesn’t include parking lots or other private property.
With files from Michael Bramadat-Willcock