'Please slow down': Joe Rich resident speaks out after wife rear ended on Highway 33

'Please slow down'

Photo: Jonathan Derksen

The Joe Rich Fire Department responded after a vehicle was rear ended on Highway 33 on Jan. 13, 2024.

A longtime resident of the Joe Rich neighbourhood, east of Kelowna has been the first on the scene of more than one fatal crash on Highway 33. Now he is speaking out after his wife was involved in a collision on the highway earlier this week.

Jonathan Derksen took to social media to praise the Joe Rich Fire Department for their quick response and actions to extract his wife from her vehicle after she was struck from behind not far from their home.

“A huge kudos goes out to the JRFD for their INCREDIBLY swift response to an accident at the junction of Three Forks Road and Highway 33. My wife was rearended (sic) by a vehicle going (apparently) 90km, and all lived to tell the tale. Crazy to watch the jaws of life in action. Thank you also for the thoroughness of the RCMP, KGH ambulance service, and witnesses at the scene,” he wrote.

Derksen says his wife was taken to hospital but didn’t suffer any serious injuries. She is back home recovering.

In his post on a local Facebook group, he also issued what he called an “earnest request”.

“We all know there are a few turns off of Highway 33 that need, but don't have, a turning lane. PLEASE SLOW DOWN if a car is indicating left or right, rather than try to pass on the shoulder or make a mad dash around--the life lost could end up being YOURS. I've been first on (the) scene of a couple of horrendous accidents where people lost their lives on this stretch of road--it's dangerous enough as it is,” he wrote.

Both of the deadly crashes he came across were near the infamous eight-mile hairpin turn. Derksen would like to see improvements to that stretch of road.

“People who aren’t familiar with it -- they almost always end up almost in the other lane,” he said. “Even truckers who come in too fast – we’ve probably seen 20, 30 different accidents (including a few) where whole sets of logs have come off and crushed somebody underneath it. That’s over 20 years.”

A petition was launched by another Joe Rich resident last year, pushing for safety improvements including flashing caution lights and merge lanes for drivers turning onto the highway.

When asked about possible improvements to the eight-mile hairpin, the Ministry of Transportation and Transit said in an email, " There are currently no plans to redesign that portion of Highway 33. Following a slide several years ago, the ministry has focused on slope stabilization to ensure safety."

Derksen says his wife is stiff and sore, but glad to be alive.

“We’ve had lots of close calls on this road. We’ve been here for a long time. Unfortunately, it’s nothing new, but this is her big crash.

“Given what happened, it could have turned out very differently.”