BC’s Police Watchdog has cleared the Kamloops Mounties in connection with a motor vehicle incident in October which left a man seriously injured.

The investigation dates to October 16th, when someone in Kamloops contacted the RCMP about concerns about the elderly man’s ability to make a drive from Kamloops to Calgary safely.

The caller said that the man was waiting and willing to talk to an officer before making his trip.

The Independent Investigations Office says that call-takers issued an alert to the Mounties to be on the lookout for the vehicle.

However, the IIO says due to “operational issues,” there was a 42-minute delay in sharing the information that the driver was waiting to speak to the police before starting out on his trip.

In that intervening time, the driver waited about half-an-hour, then took off on his trip.

He was then involved in a head-on collision on the TransCanada east of Kamloops near Chase, which resulted in the driver suffering serious injuries — on top of people in the other vehicle also being injured.

The IIO says after a review, it’s determined the actions — or lack thereof — of an officer to intervene beforehand wasn’t what caused the crash.

As such, the case will not be referred to crown counsel for charges, and the IIO says its investigation has now wrapped up.