'A miracle no innocent people were hurt' in high-speed crash in Vancouver, officer says

A damaged Audi sedan is shown after a crash in Vancouver in November 2021. (Sgt. Mark Christensen / Vancouver Police Department)

Police say it's a "miracle" a crash in South Vancouver didn't end worse, given the speed of the driver and the proximity of people to the scene.

Sgt. Mark Christensen of the Vancouver Police Department said the crash happened "a couple of weeks ago" by a speed trap set up at Granville Street and 54th Avenue.

He said officers were doing speed enforcement when they clocked the driver of an Audi sedan at 130 km/h in a 50-km/h zone.

The sergeant said officers tried to get the driver in the curb lane to pull over, but that they accelerated. They estimate the driver to have reached a speed of 160 km/h, as they "swerved into oncoming lanes, narrowly missing officers."

Christensen wrote on social media over the weekend that the driver sped south and tried to turn onto 57th Avenue, but didn't make it. The car crashed, and the damage was enough that the driver needed firefighters' help to get out.

Fortunately, their injuries were minor.

The driver, who has not been identified in any way, has since been charged with dangerous driving under the Criminal Code of Canada, Christensen said in a post on Twitter. They've also been given an administrative six-month driving ban.

"It's a miracle no innocent people were hurt!" the sergeant said.

A couple of weeks ago, we were doing speed enforcement on Granville/54th. An Audi, driving in curb lane, was clocked at 130 kmh in 50 zone. As members went to flag car over, it accelerated to estimated 160km, swerved into oncoming lanes, narrowly missing officers! pic.twitter.com/WJc7jZoT02

— Sgt Mark Christensen (@baldguy1363) December 5, 2021