Two teens were pulled from their crumpled Mercedes AMG Sunday morning by firefighters after they lost control, went airborne, and crashed into a tree two metres above ground.
The 18 year old driver of the Mercedes is seriously injured but conscious, while the 17-year-old male passenger is in critical condition, said Vancouver Fire and Rescue Acting Battalion Chief Bob Hollier.
“It was apparent that it was airborne when it struck the trees,” Hollier said. “They were taken to hospital. They were conscious at the time of the extraction.”
The speedometer of the Mercedes was stuck at 180 km/h – a sign of how fast the car may have been going along Southwest Marine drive.
Police evidence markers showed how while the road curved right at 57th Avenue, the car kept going straight.
The car hit a copse of trees to the west of the roadway at around 4:20 in the morning. Pieces of the car could be seen spread out over the roadway. There wasn’t a lot of traffic at the time, and police speculated no one called for help right away.
“Sounds like they may have been there for some time before being discovered,” Vancouver Police Const. Brian Montague said.
On the other side of Kerrisdale, a Ford Mustang flipped at 41st Avenue and Angus Drive at 5:45 am.
The driver and his female passenger weren’t seriously hurt, though the driver can be seen crumpling to the ground after being told something by police.
He was taken away on a stretcher.
Resident Carolyn MacFarlane said she’s seen too many crashes on that stretch of road.
“We tend to see a lot of accidents because people come screaming down 41st,” she said.
She said that includes an SUV carrying 7 high school aged teens that spun out and hit her property in 2005.
“It’s obviously not safe. We have [traffic] rules for a reason,” said MacFarlane.
About 35 people under 21 are killed each year in car crashes in BC. Some 6,900 are injured, and 70 per cent are male. They crash at more than twice the rate of other adults.
