Sunshine Coast RCMP may recommend impaired driving charges following a serious accident that sent one young woman to hospital in Vancouver Saturday night.
At around 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14, RCMP, firefighters, two ambulances and an air ambulance were called to a single-vehicle collision on Highway 101 north of Madeira Park.
Const. Harrison Mohr said preliminary investigation shows that three people were travelling southbound on the highway in an older van, when the driver lost control, and the van collided head-on with a rock face adjacent to the highway.
“The male driver and front female passenger, both 53 years old, were wearing their seatbelts and did not sustain serious injuries, although the driver was transported to hospital and released shortly afterwards,” said Mohr.
“Also in the van was a 23-year-old female, who had been riding in the back without a seatbelt, because there were only two seats in the vehicle. When the van hit the rock wall, the female was ejected through the windshield. She was airlifted to Vancouver General Hospital with serious injuries and underwent a lengthy surgery but has since regained consciousness.”
Mohr said the driver of the van had an odour of liquor on his breath and admitted to consuming liquor during the evening. After failing a roadside-screening test, the driver was detained for an impaired driving investigation, and taken to the Sechelt detachment for further breath testing. He was released from custody that night.
“The RCMP’s Integrated Collision Analyst and Reconstruction Service (ICARS) are assisting members of the Sunshine Coast RCMP and RCMP Traffic Services with the investigation,” added Mohr. “Police may recommend charges of impaired driving at a later date. Seat belts save lives, that’s the bottom line. We wish the young woman a full recovery and hope others think twice before going anywhere without their seatbelt on.”
