It will take months to complete the investigation into the devastating crash April 28 that killed a woman and two young cousins, Coquitlam RCMP say,
Cpl. Mike McLaughlin said that much work needs to be done to collect all the facts.
"Precise results take time," McLaughlin said in an email.
Among the tactics being used to determine the cause of the crash is the analysis of electronic vehicle data, and it will be months before expert reports are ready, McLaughlin said.
"We have used multiple search warrants and we are dealing with technical issues involving vehicle information [micro SD cards and data modules], dash cams, vehicle exams and witness statements."
He said the increasingly high-tech world of automobiles means that RCMP now have access to computerized information that wasn't available even 10 years ago, but that investigators now have even more challenges to get things right.
"The downside is that we need to write more warrants, collate and explain the data using recognized experts, and reconcile the technical information with witness statements," he said.
As well, not all witnesses saw the same thing, he said, noting that's not unusual. He added that even if witnesses agreed on all the details, "We would still make sure we gathered all the available evidence before drawing conclusions about such a serious file."
The accident occurred on a narrow stretch of road on Lougheed Highway, sandwiched between retaining walls on the Riverview Hospital lands on one side and railway tracks on another.
The city of Coquitlam and other agencies are looking at ways to make the highway safe, possibly by raising the road bed and making it level with the retaining wall. The city has taken other steps over the years to improve safety along Lougheed Highway.
In 2010, the road was repaved with skid-resistant blacktop while median rumble strips were added in 2011, along with more surface reflectors. Pullouts have also been added to allow RCMP to work safely on speed enforcement and a red light camera has been mounted at Pitt River Road and Lougheed.
A crowdfunding page was set up for the families of two of the deceased: nine-year-old Ella Reese Hernandez and her three-year-old cousin, Tyler Mollie Wong Hernandez; it has raised $78,338.
The 30-year-old woman who also died in the crash was not named as the BC Coroners Service is not releasing the names of accident victims pending a review of its privacy policies
