RCMP officer crashes ATV

The RCMP is investigating after one of its members crashed a police-owned allterrain vehicle while offduty.

The officer, who has more than a decade of experience, ended up in hospital with serious head injuries after he rolled the ATV on Bay Road, just outside of Wollaston Lake, and was thrown off the vehicle.

An on-duty member witnessed the crash while on patrol.

The incident happened on June 10, but was not reported to the public until Tuesday — a week after it happened.

According to RCMP spokesman Sgt. Craig Cleary, the general investigation section is conducting an investigation along with the accident reconstruction section. The Wollaston Lake detachment will also conduct its own investigation.

Cleary didn’t have a specific timeline for the results of that internal investigation.

He said RCMP officers are permitted to use police ATVs for “various purposes” while off-duty — for example, maintaining their skills or “exploring the terrain” around the detachment.

“In this investigation, we’re not only looking at the cause of the collision, but also the events that led up to the collision,” Cleary said.

He didn’t have any information as to whether alcohol is considered a factor in the crash.

“Investigators believe the member was not wearing a helmet at the time of the collision,” an RCMP news release stated.

That would be in contravention of Saskatchewan law, as well as RCMP policy around ATV use.

“It’s a sad reminder, unfortunately,” Cleary said.

“Situations like this exemplify the fact people do need to wear proper safety gear when utilizing this sort of equipment.”

Last year, eight people were killed and 47 were injured while riding ATVs in Saskatchewan — the highest fatality rate and secondhighest injury rate for the province since 2000.

According to the RCMP, in five out of the eight fatal incidents last year, the rider was not wearing a helmet.

Cleary said staff relations representatives, along with an RCMP chaplain, are working “very closely with the family and the detachment members to help them get through this event.”