Booze, drugs in fatal crash

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A combination of drugs, alcohol and speed proved fatal for two Kelowna women last year.

Chantal Diane Bazin, 22, and Kayla Elizabeth Cartwright, 26, died when the car they were in collided with another vehicle on the Highway 97 overpass north of Vernon on July 11, 2015.

In a report, B.C. coroner Margaret Janzen said the two women were heading back to Kelowna after an evening at a drive-in movie.

Bazin was driving a westbound 2002 Nissan Sentra when she lost control of the vehicle and struck an eastbound 2011 Volkswagon Jetta.

The impact was so severe the Nissan was torn in half. The front half of the Nissan slid down the highway before coming to rest against a concrete barrier, while the back half of the car fell off the overpass landing on the on-ramp below.

Janzen reported Bazin had a blood alcohol concentration of .20 per cent. She also had an elevated level of hydromorphone (an opioid pain medication) and had recently used marijuana.

Police estimated the Nissan was travelling between 113 and 148 km/h.

The cause of death for both women was determined as blunt force trauma as a result of a motor vehicle incident.

Janzen classified the deaths as accidental and no recommendations were made.