With sunny weather sticking around much of BC this week, the RCMP is reminding drivers and riders to be extra cautious on the roads following a late-season jump in motorcycle fatalities.
BC Highway Patrol says 27 people have died in motorcycle crashes so far in 2025. That’s actually a five-year low, but July and August were especially dangerous, with 16 deaths in just those two months.
“Speed is the single-biggest contributing factor, with impairment and distraction close behind,” said Corporal Michael McLaughlin with BC Highway Patrol. “That’s why we’re renewing enforcement in the next month as the riding season draws to a close.”
On the weekend of October 4th and 5th, officers impounded 32 vehicles for excessive speeding on the Sea to Sky Highway, 13 of those were motorcycles.
“Motorcycles are a fun way to travel but they carry inherent risks that too many riders ignore,” McLaughlin said. “Your selfish decision to speed isn’t just about you. You’re risking pedestrians, wildlife, property, and creating massive hassles by shutting down highways.”
So far this year, motorcycle deaths in BC are trending below last year’s numbers, when 48 riders had been killed by this time and 54 by year’s end. In 2023, there were 40 fatalities in total, compared to 48 in 2022, 39 in 2021, and 40 in 2020.
While provincial data wasn’t broken down by region, several recent crashes have involved Vancouver Island residents.
In July, a Vancouver Island motorcyclist was killed while travelling on the Lower Mainland. That motorcyclist was struck by an alleged impaired semi-truck driver.
Another Island rider was seriously injured earlier in July in a Highway 3 crash east of Hope, and a Port Alberni man suffered severe injuries in July near the Tsawwassen ferry terminal.
In September, a mother of two was killed in a motorcycle crash on Vancouver Island.
RCMP are urging riders to slow down and focus on skill, not speed, and to practise better cornering and braking, ride sober and distraction-free, and match their pace to the slowest member of a group.
“Many of us in BC Highway Patrol are motorcyclists, but we tend to ride more responsibly,” McLaughlin added. “You can have just as much fun, and your chances of dying are much less.”
