A North Vancouver man is in hospital and police are looking for a suspect and witnesses after a serious motorcycle crash on Highway 1 Thursday.
The crash happened around 2 p.m., just before the westbound Lonsdale Avenue exit.
According to the RCMP’s Port Mann Highway Patrol division, a pickup truck lost a ladder it was carrying and the driver pulled over and ran out onto the highway to retrieve it.
As people were quickly changing lanes and slamming on their brakes to avoid the man and ladder, a 61-year-old motorcyclist lost control and hit the concrete median. The man went over the handlebars and had a hard landing on the road, said Cpl. Garth Domm, Port Mann Highway Patrol spokesman.
“He is in very critical condition right now,” Domm said on Friday morning. “He was unconscious on scene.”
Police are now trying to find the driver of the pickup truck who left the scene.
“A number of persons would have witnessed this. We have multiple witnesses but nobody obtained the licence plate of the pickup truck,” Domm said.
Police describe the vehicle as a light-coloured pickup truck with a “bubble type” canopy.
Investigators are also looking for the owner of a green Subaru who drove over the ladder, just before the collision, Domm said.
The accident nearly closed off the highway as emergency crews allowed only a single lane of traffic to sneak by on the shoulder.
Anyone who may have seen the crash is asked to call the Port Mann Highway Patrol detachment at 604-526-9744.
