A dramatic crash on the Malahat at the Shawnigan Lake exit on Sunday night was captured on a dashcam.
Just before 9 p.m. on March 31st, Justin Arenas was traveling southbound when his vehicle collided with another vehicle making a left-hand turn from the northbound turning lane.
“It happened pretty quick,” recalls Arenas, who had to choose between colliding with the turning vehicle or hitting the barrier.
He opted to avoid a potential rollover by hitting the vehicle.
Despite the adrenaline rush masking the pain initially, Justin woke up on April 1st with soreness in his right shoulder, which spread to his other shoulder and neck.
The other driver, a man in his 50s or 60s, claimed obscured vision due to a passing car and the barrier, admitting fault for the accident.
Arenas suspects his recently insured vehicle, completed just weeks earlier after a build, may be a write-off due to frame and engine damage.
ICBC estimates it will take two to three weeks to assess whether it’s repairable.
Reflecting on the incident, Arenas expressed a wish for traffic lights at the intersection, citing prolonged wait times as a contributing factor.
The crash was the second at the spot in the day. At around 11:20 a.m., the northbound lanes were closed temporarily after multi-vehicle crash. The cause of the crash has not been released.
The footage captured shows Arena’s vehicle being cutoff, veering into the median and over the top.
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