The Old Island Highway was featured in the top three crash-prone intersection in Nanaimo with the lights at Bowen/Norwell and the highway seeing over 300 crashes between 2015 and 2019. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

CRASH PRONE

Trio of Island Hwy. intersections top list of most dangerous in Nanaimo

Aug 3, 2020 | 8:55 AM

NANAIMO — Three intersections in Nanaimo have ranked highly in a list of crash-prone areas of the region.

Newly released data from ICBC showed intersections where Hwy. 19A meets Bowen Rd., Hammond Bay Rd. and Rutherford Rd. were among the most crash-prone spots in Nanaimo.

Traffic lights at Bowen Rd. and Hammond Bay Rd. along the highway also ranked in the top ten most crash-prone across Vancouver Island.

According to ICBC, 334 motor vehicle incidents occurred at Bowen Rd. and Hwy. 19A between 2015 and 2019. The other two hotspots totalled just under 300 incidents each.

ICBC’s Mark Milner told NanaimoNewsNOW there’s no surprise the Island Hwy. features so prominently.

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“Every intersection or interchange on the highway is a natural point of conflict for vehicles,” Milner said. “It’s more than one vehicle at one time wanting to occupy the same space.”

Data showing the most crash prone intersections in Nanaimo. Two intersections along the Island Hwy. rank among the top ten most dangerous on Vancouver Island. (ICBC)

All three highlighted locations have trended towards being safer over the last couple of years. Just 59 incidents occured at Bowen Rd. and Hwy. 19A in 2019, down from a peak of 72 in 2016.

Both Aulds Rd. and Rutherford Rd. have seen similar declines in the last 12 to 24 months.

ICBC has recently made the data public in hopes to be more transparent and encourage sharing of ideas and solutions to make roads safer.

In the past, crash statistics had only been available to authorities and by special request.

Data from ICBC suggests 60 per cent of collisions which do not take place in a parking lot are at intersections.

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