Death of teen renews calls to fix highway to Sooke

Sooke’s mayor and council have pledged to do everything they can to improve safety on Highway 14 in the wake of a fatal car crash that took the life of a popular 17-year-old hockey player.

Mayor Maja Tait extended condolences on behalf of council to the family of Carter Navarrete and to the family of the young man who was behind the wheel on Sooke Road on Sept. 2.

“Words cannot adequately express the grief and loss our community feels at this terrible time,” Tait said.

“It will take time to get over the shock of losing someone so young with so much promise. My heart goes out to Carter’s parents and siblings.”

Navarrete, a talented player with the Sooke Thunderbirds, was a passenger in a car that left the pavement of Sooke Road near Parkland Road.

RCMP said the car flipped and came to rest upside down in a wooded area. The driver was found outside the car. He was taken to hospital with serious injuries. Navarrete was trapped inside. Despite the efforts of paramedics and firefighters, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

In a statement, the mayor and council said they want to assure the community they are doing everything they can to address safety issues on Highway 14 and are in contact with the minister of transportation and infrastructure.

Teresa Sullivan, Sooke’s chief administrative officer, said the ministry is working with the Insurance Corp. of B.C., looking at the number of crashes on Highway 14.

“We expect a preliminary report from the ministry this October and will be sharing the results with the public shortly after staff receive it,” Sullivan said.

The report is examining whether the provincial government should try to improve Highway 14 or spend money on a new highway.

“Since I’ve moved here in December, there’s an accident almost twice a day on that road. I don’t know what the statistics are compared to previous years,” Sullivan said.

“A lot of it has to do with the curvy nature of the road. But it’s also the one-way-in, one-way-out access.

“Whenever there’s an accident, people are stuck on the highway and they can’t move anywhere.”

Some members of the community want a new highway, Sullivan said. Others want a small twisty, touristy kind of highway.