Longboarder dies after crash involving semi in New Westminster

NEW WESTMINSTER (NEWS 1130) – A man has died following a bizarre crash in New Westminster on Friday afternoon.

Police say there was a collision in the area of Boyd and Wood Streets, underneath the Queensborough Bridge, between the man and a semi-truck.

New Westminster Police Sgt. Jeff Scott says it’s unclear exactly what happened leading up the crash. “It appears a person was possibly riding a skateboard when they were struck or struck into the side of a semi-truck. Our collision analyst reconstruction team is on scene with our forensic identification section to determine exactly what happened.”

He adds the crash happened mid-block and it’s typically a pretty busy area. “There is a crosswalk. It allows traffic and a lot of commercial vehicles down here, but people who come off the bridge that go across the street — there is a marked crosswalk.”

Scott says it’s too early to tell if the man was using the crosswalk. “We’re still trying to determine if the semi impacted him, but early signs show he may have impacted the side of the semi.”

The next step in the investigation is to gather as much information as possible. “At this point, our investigators have spoken to witnesses. We’re conducting any sort of canvass, if there’s any video surveillance and if anybody did see what happened and hasn’t spoken to us, they’re asked to give us a call.”

We’ve reported on previous stories about longboarders being injured, but Scott says crashes involving them is pretty rare.

“We don’t get a lot of calls for skateboarders or longboarders, but this is certainly a tragic situation that happened today.”
The man’s age or name is not being released right now.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call New Westminster Police at 604.529.2423.

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