Collisions with wildlife are an unfortunate but common reality of rural Canadian life, but a recent video, which shows a B.C. motorcyclist crash while trying to avoid a black bear, has received special attention.
When officers of the RCMP’s Fraser Valley Traffic Services arrived at the scene of the accident, they found a camera mounted to the driver’s helmet. They immediately seized the camera, which contained footage of the driver accelerating from 0 km per hour to over 140 km per hour in less than 20 seconds.
The video also showed a passing train, which likely scared the black bear out onto the road in the path of the speeding driver.
Beyond being passed around on video-sharing sites like YouTube, the video has become part of an RCMP campaign aimed at curbing speeding and distracted driving.
“We hope this short video will help people realize the importance of slowing down and concentrating on the complicated task of driving a motor vehicle,” Corporal Robert McDonald said. “While motorists don’t often need to avoid bears, every day drivers may need to react to events such as dogs running out suddenly in front of their vehicle, or a cyclist swerving to avoid something, or even a child running out of a driveway.”
Though driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries from the crash, thankfully the bear was unharmed.
