Police are appealing to the public for information after a 32-year-old Ladysmith man was struck by a vehicle Saturday evening (Feb. 7) on the Malahat.
Shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday, feb. 7, the Shawnigan Lake RCMP responded to a report of a seriously injured man found on the roadway of the Trans-Canada Highway near Okotoks Road at the Malahat Summit area.
Several passing motorists had observed the injured man lying on the side of the northbound lane and stopped to help him, according to a press release from the RCMP.
BC Ambulance Service personnel rushed the man to a Victoria-area hospital a short time later, where he remains with serious injuries, stated the RCMP, who are not releasing the man's identity.
Due to the significance of the man's injuries, police have been unable to interview him.
"The initial investigation indicates that man was likely hitchhiking at the time, heading northbound, when he was struck by a passing vehicle," the RCMP state in the release. "That vehicle did not stop at the scene, and police have yet to locate any witnesses to this collision. A short time before receiving the report of the injured man, a motorist called the RCMP to report a male hitchhiker, wearing dark clothing, who was hitchhiking in the travel portion of the northbound lanes near Okotoks Road. The caller felt the man was at risk of being struck by passing cars. An officer was dispatched to this report, when multiple calls about the injured man began to come in."
The RCMP South Island Traffic Services have assumed a lead role in this ongoing investigation, with the assistance of the Shawnigan Lake RCMP.
Anyone with information on this collision is urged to call RCMP South Island Traffic Services at 250-416-0352.
"Based on the significant injuries this man sustained, our investigators are confident that he was struck by a passing vehicle," Cpl. Darren Lagan of the Vancouver Island RCMP stated in the press release. "We are appealing to anyone who saw this collision, and directly to the driver involved, to contact us immediately."