Calls are growing for safer back roads in BC after a bus crash on a forest road near Prince George
A bus crash that sent 18 workers from a pipeline camp to hospital near Prince George, B.C., on Friday has drawn attention to the poor conditions and ongoing safety issues on the county’s backcountry dirt roads, especially those commonly used by industry and outdoor enthusiasts.
The charter bus carrying 30 workers was traveling on the Firth Lake Forest Service Road (FSR), about an hour from Prince George, when the incident occurred.
All 18 people injured in the crash have been released from hospital as of Sunday, according to Northern Health.
The camp houses pipeline workers for Coastal GasLink, which said in a statement Friday that it was grateful for the healthcare workers it received “and that it did not lead to a more serious accident.”
What caused the crash is still unclear, according to BC RCMP spokesman Sgt. Chris Manseau. But he noted that early morning rain on the dirt road on Friday made conditions “quite bad”.
“I know it rained a while ago [the incident]’ said Manseau. “So we’ll investigate that, to see if road conditions caused or played a role in this crash.”
It is not the first accident on one of the more than 620,000 kilometers of roads in the province. In 2019, a bus crashed on a dirt road near Bamfield, BC, killing two University of Victoria students.
That led to one probe by BC’s Auditor General investigated whether the province’s Ministry of Forests, Lands and Resources had adequately maintained the forest management roads.
“We found that the Department had not completed critical maintenance and repairs on roads, bridges and major culverts,” Michael Pickup said in a 2021 statement, noting that BC “did not manage safety and environmental risks on FSRs in accordance with its policies .” At the time, he called on BC to invest more in inspections and maintenance.
And BC drivers often rely on these more treacherous roads when climate disasters or wildfires shut down major highways, including the continued closure of Highway 4 on Vancouver Island.
As investigators work out what went wrong in Friday’s crash, a road safety expert said there are far more hazards on secondary roads than on paved highways.
‘Another level of danger’
“When you’re driving on a forest road or a back road, you never really know what’s coming unless you know that road,” says Christopher Walker, the owner and president of Canada Overland Trainingtold CBC News. “So it’s just a different level of risk.”
His company provides professional off-road safety courses for BC’s many dirt back roads and forest roads. His students include members of the oil and gas, mining and forestry industries, as well as some recreational enthusiasts.
“Most of those roads have no barriers on the side,” he said. “The visibility level of you driving down the road to see other traffic coming towards you is much lower than on a normal highway… There is less traction on those roads [and] the turns are tighter.”
For example, in the Prince George area where Friday’s accident occurred, Walker said “those roads get very, very soft and very, very muddy” in the spring and fall. He also said there are also hazards from “big drop-offs, less traction, wildlife, steep ditches, steep hills and lack of signage.”
While roads such as Firth Lake FSR were originally built for the logging industry, a growing number of industries are now traveling them to access projects or move personnel and equipment.
Each industry will maintain the roads they travel in the conditions necessary for their specific type of vehicle and use, but not necessarily for all types of drivers or vehicles, Walker said. And larger industrial vehicles are often heavier and take longer and longer to stop, he noted.
Two students died on the spot and 17 others were transported to hospital under varying circumstances. The bus was on its way to a maritime research center on Friday evening.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Horizon North, the company contracted by Coastal GasLink to operate the labor camp, said the bus drove Prince George’s company employees to the job site.
“We are conducting a full investigation to determine the cause of the incident,” the company wrote in a post on its Facebook page on Friday. “Our immediate priority is the safety and well-being of our employees and ensuring they receive the medical care and support they need.”
The UNITE HERE 40 union, representing workers from the oil and gas operation involved in the incident, could not be reached for comment this weekend, but said it was in talks with workers at the site and was planning a meeting on Monday. to issue a statement.
But Walker said problems with improving road safety in B.C.’s backwoods don’t just affect the industry. Better signage, driver training and safety measures would benefit many hunters, campers and other recreational motorists.
“People are using these roads more,” he said. “Since the pandemic…I think we’re seeing an increase in the user base.”
One way to improve safety is for users to educate themselves about the dangers of such routes, and Walker encouraged people to BC Forest Security Council advice, learn to use the province’s radio communication system when driving on secondary roads, or take a training course for motorists on back roads.
