Tuesday November 5, 2024 | METCHOSIN, BC [Published at 6:44 pm | Updated November 6, 2024 at 12:52 pm]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
On Sunday afternoon November 3 a vehicle crash on Highway 18 near Duncan took the life of Daniel Ranns, age 18. He was the grandson of former long-time Metchosin Mayor John Ranns.
According to other news reports, the teen was driving westbound on Highway 18 and police say — according to witnesses — that his compact truck travelling westbound may have drifted into the lane of oncoming eastbound traffic where it struck a one-tonne pickup truck.
The head-on crash happened after 2 pm. North Cowichan-Duncan RCMP responded at 2:22 p.m.
According to RCMP, the investigation remains in the very early stages and “all causal factors are not yet known”. The temperature was a high of 10°C that day in the Duncan area.
A 6’5″ lacrosse player who recently graduated from Royal Bay Secondary School in Colwood where he took the Lacrosse Academy program offered by Sooke School District 62 (SD62), Ranns died after his westbound compact pickup was hit and then came to rest in a ditch, trapping the driver.
Reportedly crews tried to extricate the teen but he was later pronounced dead despite the efforts of first responders.
The other driver was taken to hospital with apparently minor injuries and no one else was injured.
Highway 18:
Highway 18 is a short main vehicle route in the Cowichan Valley Regional District on Vancouver Island, connecting the city of Duncan on the Trans-Canada Highway with the community of Lake Cowichan, on the shore of Cowichan Lake.
All highway traffic was shutdown to allow emergency crews to work safely, according to North Cowichan-Duncan RCMP in a news release this morning (File # 2024-18694).
Highway 18 first opened to vehicle traffic in 1953, and was re-routed to a straighter and wider alignment in 1970. The highway between Mesachie Lake and Port Renfrew is known as the Pacific Marine Circle Route. The speed limit along most of the highway is 100 km/h (62 mph).
Family:
Daniel’s mother, Dawn Ranns, is the director of athletics at St. Margaret’s School (a private girls school) in Saanich and father Adam Ranns, the eldest of John Ranns’ four children, worked for Pacific Coast Community Resources. Both parents coach lacrosse, as did Daniel.
Adam and Dawn Ranns relocated to Vancouver Island in 2020 to run John Ranns’ produce and microgreens farming operation. The young Ranns was apparently in the Cowichan Valley on Sunday to look at a trailer to potentially use in Metchosin.
SD62:
Ranns was a graduate of Royal Bay Secondary School in Colwood.
Sooke School District SD62 says: “Our priority is to support the family, students and staff affected by this tragedy. We are focused on providing care and assistance,” says SD62 in an email statement to Island Social Trends.
Comments from community:
- Kyara Kahakauwila, a former Metchosin municipal councillor who served for many years with Mayor Ranns, was saddened by the news today.
- Andrew Watson, who works at Elections BC, is a friend of the Ranns family. Watson said today that the death of the teen is “shocking and devastating”.
Investigating:
The BC Coroners Service is investigating the death.
Police are asking anyone who witnessed the collision, specifically the driver of a white truck that braked and swerved towards the ditch to avoid the collision while they were travelling eastbound towards Duncan, to come forward and speak with investigators
Anyone with any information or dash-cam footage of the crash who has not yet spoken with police is asked to contact the North Cowichan-Duncan RCMP at 250-748-5522.
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NEWS SECTIONS: METCHOSIN | VANCOUVER ISLAND | SOOKE SCHOOL DISTRICT SD62