Two people were taken to hospital on Wednesday night after a driver ran a red light which resulted in a three-vehicle crash including a BC Transit bus.
The crash happened around 10:30 p.m. on March 20 at the intersection of Bay and Douglas streets.
Security cameras show a car speeding through a red light southbound on Douglas street and hitting a truck heading eastbound on Bay street, and then crashing onto a BC Transit bus that was waiting at the stoplight, and narrowly missing two pedestrians.
Transit spokesperson Jamie Weiss said in a statement that the bus suffered significant front-end damage but no one on board reported serious injuries.
VicPD says the car caught fire and an officer and bystanders removed the driver and passenger from the vehicle.
The truck driver received serious and possibly life-threatening injuries, while the driver and passenger of the car had minor injuries. Two people were taken to the hospital.
BC Emergency Health Services says four paramedic teams, one advanced care paramedic team and one supervisor responded to the crash.
Paramedics provided emergency medical treatment and brought two people to hospital.
The intersection was open to traffic in all directions Thursday morning.
The ongoing police investigation is looking into several factors that could’ve caused the car to speed through the red light including whether the driver consumed alcohol or drugs.
“Investigators at the scene conducted a breath sample of the driver of the car and later at the hospital, collected a blood sample from the driver itself,” said Griffen Hohl, spokesperson for Victoria Police Department.
The owner of an auto shop whose security cameras captured the incident says the intersection on Bay and Douglas is notorious for crashes.
“It’s a busy intersection. Probably every two weeks there’s a fender-bender or something or very close once every couple of days or so,” said Ryan Burghardt, owner of Budget Brake & Muffler.
According to ICBC, between 2018 and 2022 there were 81 crashes at this intersection.
In fact, a few months prior to Wednesday’s crash, a BC Transit bus was involved in another similar crash.
On Sept. 2, 2023, the driver of an SUV ran a red light at the intersection and hit a BC Transit bus that was proceeding through the intersection on a green light.
In this incident, VicPD told CHEK News that the driver of the SUV had been issued a ticket for running the red light.
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Editor’s note: A previous version of this story says three people were taken to the hospital, which was information provided by Victoria Police. The story was updated when BC Emeregency Health Services clarified that two people were taken to hospital.
Keith Vass
Laura Brougham
Harry Corro
