Local Community Advertising
A Central Okanagan is sounding the alarm after his third close call in half a year involving a vehicle driving the wrong way.
Two of the incidents happened along Hwy 97 in West Kelowna, while the third was just off Hwy 97, on Pandosy Street, on the Kelowna side of the bridge.
*Note: Time stamps on the provided videos are inaccurate, but the month and year of each incident is shown in the top left corner.*
The most recent incident happened around 11:30 am on Thursday as the man, Jeremiah, was driving down the hill between Glenrosa and downtown West Kelowna.
As Jeremiah drives down the hill in the left lane, he quickly has to switch into the right lane when a smart car driving on the wrong side of the divided highway appears out of nowhere.
It’s similar to the March incident, Jeremiah once again has to quickly recognize the situation and switch from the right to left lane of Hwy 97 as a vehicle drives up Bridge Hill the wrong way.
In the December incident, a pickup truck was going the wrong way on Pandosy Street coming out of the double left-hand turn lane that leads motorists onto Hwy 97 to leave Kelowna.
While Jeremiah said that having this type of incident happen three times in six months is “baffling and disheartening,” he told KelownaNow that he’s sharing the clips as a wake-up call for motorists to be a little safer on the roads this summer.
“It is road-trip season, which means many of us will be driving in unfamiliar areas over the coming months, which may be easier to take wrong turns on,” he noted.
“Therefore, paying more attention to the signs on roadways is even more important to give everyone a more enjoyable and less dangerous driving experience!”
Jeremiah said he reported the two Hwy 97 incidents to police, but did not report the December incident.
Local Community Advertising