Lake man injured when vehicle hits a parked trailer, charges pending

A young Lake Cowichan man was seriously injured early on June 29 when the vehicle he was in crashed into a parked trailer on Beaver Road at about 3 a.m.

A steel side rail of the trailer went through the windshield and hit 20-year-old Max Adams in the side of the head.

“The vehicle was going eastbound off of Elk Road when the driver lost control,” said Cst. Roger Nyberg of the Lake Cowichan RCMP. “One person in the vehicle sustained serious injuries to his head and face.”

Adams was taken to hospital in Victoria, where he remained through Sunday. He apparently has had surgery, but his condition was not known at press time.

Nyberg said they can’t confirm who was driving or if there were more than two people in the vehicle. No one else was seriously injured.

Adams grew up in Lake Cowichan and was the Class of 2006 valedictorian at Lake Cowichan Secondary School. He was also a star minor hockey goalie.

Nyberg said the crash is still under investigation, but acknowledged that charges are pending against whoever was driving the vehicle.

Two residents who live across the street from where the trailer was parked say they’ve been complaining about it for some time, but have had no success in getting it moved. The trailer, which has been moved about 50 feet since the crash, sits on public property in front of trailer owner Jim Mutch’s property, which is in Area I of the Cowichan Valley Regional District.

Homes across the street are within the Town of Lake Cowichan.

“We’ve tried to get the trailer moved, but no one wants to take responsibility,” said Joe Doherty. “We went to the town and they said it’s the regional district’s responsibility. We talked to the regional district and they said it’s Highway’s responsibility.”

Terry Finch, who lives next door to Doherty, agrees the trailer shouldn’t be parked along the street. He’s even gone as far as taking photos of the trailer and showing them to the police and local government officials.

Neither Doherty or Finch are suggesting the trailer caused the crash, but they have been concerned that it would be a danger to motorists or children playing in the neighbourhood.

“Is it an eyesore? Yes,” said Doherty. “Is it a danger? More so. My granddaughter lives just down the street and will soon be learning how to ride a bike. I’m worried that she could fall, hit that trailer and hurt herself.”

While looking at the trailer, Finch pointed out all the sharp steel points sticking out from it.

“You’d need a tetanus shot if you were cut by that,” he said.

Nyberg acknowledged there have been complaints about the trailer. “We looked into it and the trailer is insured,” he said, adding that legally there was nothing the police could do about the trailer being parked on the side of the road.

Mutch said he doesn’t want to comment.