This time the police WANTED media photos of front of vehicle....
In a moment, friend was dead
Teen killed as car rips through guard rail and plunges to Oak Bay beach
Friday, December 17, 2004
CREDIT: Ray Smith, Times Colonist
Little is left of the front end of the the car involved in the fatal accident on Beach Drive.
One second Simon Leonard, 17, and his 16-year-old best friend Taylor Poulton were cruising south along Oak Bay's Beach Drive.
The next second Poulton was dead, impaled by a guard rail that the car hit as it left the road.
"He was trapped inside. He was dead before the paramedics arrived," a devastated Leonard said Thursday.
Leonard, who had been driving, said he took the corner too wide. His Honda CRX left the road and crashed down a hill onto the beach about five metres below.
"I was just driving with my friend. I guess we were having a conversation and I took this corner. I overshot the corner and I just slid into the other lane, onto the sidewalk and through the pole and down onto the beach.
"I looked over and my friend was impaled by the pole that had gone through the car -- all the way through the car and all the way out the back."
Leonard said there were no drugs or alcohol and he and Poulton, with whom he played in a garage band (Leonard on drums, Poulton on guitar), had been out to a Tim Hortons. They were just driving around when the accident happened shortly after midnight.
Asked if he was concerned about a police investigation, he said, "I have not yet thought about that right now. I'm really just in despondency about the death of my friend and what his mom is going through right now. That's what I'm thinking about right now."
Leonard's father Richard, who visited the accident scene Thursday morning, was critical of the design and installation of the railing. He said the end of the rail should have been bent down into the pavement or into a "U" and not left exposed like a spear.
"He hit square on at the beginning of the rails. They stick straight out and the rail went right through the car. And that's what killed Taylor," Richard Leonard said.
"And these railings were only put in two years ago.
"I was under the impression that: 'Oh, it's Oak Bay, it was 1945, around the war time when they installed these rails and they didn't have standards about how to put guard rails on the side of the roads.' "
Poulton was pronounced dead at the scene. Leonard was treated at Royal Jubilee Hospital and released.
Poulton had been working at the Esso Car Clinic, 1701 Island Hwy., for about six months.
"He was a great kid," said John Floyd, who was operating the car clinic gas bar Thursday afternoon. "He was always here on time, did his job, was happy. It was just a shock to everyone to hear about it."
Oak Bay Police Sgt. Bert Vermeer said such accidents are hard to deal with, especially at this time of year.
"They're 16 and 17 years old and just starting life. They probably just got their driver's licences. It's midnight. Yes, the road was dark and slick but it's not an unfamiliar road. It's been here for eons. It's a tragedy any time of the year but especially this time of the year."
"You can see for yourselves. The road curves here and the car went straight," Vermeer said from the scene of the crash.
Police were releasing few details while the investigation continues. Vermeer said speed is obviously one of the factors under investigation.
In a moment, friend was dead (page 2)
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...Continued
CREDIT: Ray Smith, Times Colonist
SCENE OF TRAGEDY: Oak Bay Police Sgt. Bert Vermeer describes the accident to
reporters at the scene on Beach Drive just south of the Oak Bay Marina, where
a car ripped out a portion of railing and landed on the rocks below.
Asked if he had been speeding, Leonard said: "I don't
exactly recall."
Some neighbours living at the bend where the accident happened complained that
the area is plagued by late-night speeders. But Vermeer said tthere's no more
speeding on the 40-km/h stretch than anywhere else in the municipality.
"We don't have very many accidents here. I can't recall one in this particular
stretch of the road in the 13 or 14 years that I've been here," Vermeer said.
Beach Drive resident George Lavery didn't hear the crash, but he heard the
sirens. He downplayed suggestions the area is frequented by speeders. "It's so
quiet it's like the country," he said.
http://www.canada.com/victoria/timescolonist/news/story.html?id=ce0b42ea-4f96-424f-a29d-5c56d8a60449&page=2