One of two cows that got loose along the Trans-Canada Highway near Chemainus Tuesday afternoon was killed and resulted in a multi-vehicle accident.
North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP responded to a call just after 6 p.m. on the TCH near Hidden Hills for a cow walking along the highway, reported Alex Berube of RCMP communications. “Police noted a multi-vehicle collision upon attendance. It appears the collision was caused by a vehicle that tried to avoid a deceased cow which had previously been hit by another vehicle.”
The incident along the highway began earlier in the afternoon when traffic could have been tied up till the cows came home.
But two cows on the loose were in a hurry and the traffic tie-up was minimal, although the incident proved startling for many motorists.
“It was quite something,” said Larry Pynn of Maple Bay, who encountered one of them while driving northbound a couple of kilometres south of the Chemainus River bridges. “I didn’t know what was going on.”
Pynn noted he first became aware of some kind of incident at around 1:42 pm when the driver of a southbound vehicle flashed his headlights as a warning.
“Soon after, northbound traffic slowed, then ground to a halt,” Pynn explained. “I could not see any indication of a motor vehicle accident. Then, a few seconds later, I spotted an RCMP vehicle with its lights flashing, tailing what appeared to be an Angus bull.”
Pynn added he rolled down the window as it approached.
“And it just proceeded alongside the concrete median to points unknown,” he indicated. “I suspect everything turned out OK.”
The cow was going at a good clip, perhaps trying to keep up with highway speed.
“Where he was going or where he was coming from, I don’t know,” said Pynn.
There was apparently a second cow on the highway that motorists spotted heading in the opposite direction. That’s the one that eventually got struck several hours later. No one seemed to know from what farm in the area the cows had made their escape.
