Beach Drive has re-opened after a crash near Ripon Road late Thursday night (May 18).

Oak Bay Police say five local youth were taken to hospital with varying injuries after a car crash around 11:20 p.m.

B次元官网网址淎s members were arriving they thought they were coming upon a fatal collision based on the scene,B次元官网网址� said Deputy Chief Ray Bernoties. Fortunately that wasnB次元官网网址檛 the case, the driver and four passengers were taken to hospital with varying injuries.

B次元官网网址淭he driver was sober and fortunately it appears that all were using seatbelts which is likely the reason the injuries werenB次元官网网址檛 much worse,B次元官网网址� Bernoties said.

The file is still under investigation, including using reconstruction and aerial photos B次元官网网址済iven the serious nature of the fileB次元官网网址�.

B次元官网网址淲e try to be extra cautious when there are so many kids involved with so many injuries. You only have the scene once and you donB次元官网网址檛 want to lose that evidence,B次元官网网址� Bernoties said. Beach Drive was closed for several hours for the comprehensive investigation.

Oak Bay public works was notified and expects to deal with damaged infrastructure in the area early next week.

Very serious crash at Beach Drive and Ripon. The road will be closed for some time. Please take an alternate route

B次元官网网址� Sgt Rob Smith (@OakBayCop)

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e just so thankful that everyone had their seatbelts on and it wasnB次元官网网址檛 much worse,B次元官网网址� Bernoties said. B次元官网网址淣ow a long weekend is upon us and we hope that local parents will talk with their kids about this incident and what was done right and what maybe wasnB次元官网网址檛 so we donB次元官网网址檛 have these types of incidents in our community again.B次元官网网址�

Long weekends, particularly the Victoria Day holiday that leads into the summer season, tends to see a spike in traffic crashes.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 something that sweeps the province if not the country, the long weekend summer road safety issues,B次元官网网址� Bernoties said. B次元官网网址淧eople can expect to see us out tonight and throughout the weekend.B次元官网网址�

May long weekend has arrived! 鈽�锔廤e hope you have fun but PLEASE be mindful of the fact that there were "290 crashes on Vancouver Island (on this wknd) in 2016" On avg, 2 people die in a crash in BC this wknd. Lets dramatically improve those stats this year ! Goal 0

B次元官网网址� Oak Bay Police (@OakBayPolice)