Oak Bay’s police chief says police had recommended that the woman who struck a municipal worker with her SUV be charged with dangerous driving causing death.
At the time the recommendation was forwarded to the sa国际传媒 Prosecution Service in January, police were not given medical information the service later cited in saying no charges would be laid, according to the chief.
Police said Thursday the driver would not face charges in the May 17, 2023, crash in which Steve Seekins, a 52-year-old father of two young children, died. It said the sa国际传媒 Prosecution Service had opted not to pursue charges on the basis that the woman had suffered a medical episode while driving.
Seekins was hit about 8 a.m. while inspecting a manhole cover in Bowker Creek Park, when a black SUV heading north on Monterey Avenue left the road and struck him, then crashed into a tree.
Seekins died at the scene.
The driver, a Victoria woman who was 66 at the time of the crash, has not been publicly named.
Police forwarded the recommendation of dangerous-driving charges to Crown counsel in January, said Oak Bay Chief Julie Chanin.
She said information that the driver had suffered a medical episode had not been shared with police at that time. Instead, it was sent directly to Crown counsel.
“I can’t really speak to how and when all of that was accumulated, but at the time when the police report was forwarded to Crown counsel, police had not received any medical information at that time,” Chanin said.
She could not say who had provided the medical information to the prosecution service.
Chanin said it’s not uncommon for information that isn’t shared with police to be provided to Crown counsel directly.
“Police can ask for information and we don’t always necessarily get that, or at the time when we ask for it, it may not be available,” she said.
The sa国际传媒 Prosecution Service did not respond to a request for comment.
Chanin said Saanich police, on behalf of Oak Bay police, have forwarded a report to RoadSafetyBC. requesting a medical review of the woman’s driver’s licence.
Saanich police took responsibility for the investigation shortly after the crash.
The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General would not comment on the situation, but said RoadSafetyBC will conduct a medical fitness review to determine whether to revoke a licence when it receives reliable evidence that a driver has a medical condition that affects their ability to drive.
Reports by medical professionals and police are given the highest priority of review by RoadSafetyBC, it said.
A fitness review assesses the effects a medical condition has on a driver’s cognition, sensory and motor functions necessary for driving.
There is no separate, standard protocol of review when someone causes a death while driving and experiencing a medical incident, the ministry said.
At the time of the fatal crash, police had received reports of erratic driving on Monterey Avenue, and asked witnesses to come forward. The SUV was reported to be travelling at high speed and weaving into oncoming traffic, nearly hitting a child on a bicycle.
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