Driver recalls narrowly avoiding serious injury in wrong-way crash in West Vancouver
One of the drivers involved in a crash with a camper van driving the wrong way on the Upper Levels Highway in West Vancouver Wednesday believes he is lucky to be alive after swerving at the last second to avoid a direct head-on collision.
"I had literally like a second to react and turn to the right. They still caught the tail end of us and we just went flying through the air. We were literally flipping,” said Quinton Spence about the ordeal. “There was a lot of glass that exploded in our faces, went in our mouths and stuff.”
Spence’s car came to a rest on its wheels facing the wrong direction and he and his brother, who was in the car with him, managed to escape serious injury.
The driver of a pickup truck also swerved to avoid the camper van but lost control and rolled down a steep embankment.
Spence said he ran to see if the people in the truck were hurt.
“I see an old man. He’s sitting on a log or something like that and his wife is holding him, she’s trying not to cry,” he said. “He had blood just all over his face and some blood coming out of his eye.”
After the truck swerved out of its path, the RV hit a red car head on, causing significant damage to both vehicles.
The van wound up resting on its side on top of the car.
A total of six people were injured in the collisions, including two who went to hospital with critical injuries.
Police have not revealed which off-ramp the wrong-way driver may have used to enter the freeway but the closest one to the crash site is at 22nd Street.
It is very clearly marked with “Do Not Enter” and “Wrong Way” signs.
Wednesday’s crash is not the first on that stretch of highway to be caused by a driver travelling in the wrong direction.
In May of 2014, a cargo van travelling east in the west-bound lanes collided with several vehicles.
Six people also went to hospital in that crash, including a toddler who required surgery.
At the time, West Van Police said they believed the driver of the van was impaired.
Investigators have not said if they also think that’s the case with the woman in her 20s who was behind the wheel of the camper van on Wednesday.
"It's early on in this investigation and we're hoping to determine the cause and all of that,” said Const. Nicole Braithwaite.
At the crash site, a cannabis plant could be seen amongst the debris that spilled out of the van, and police carefully examined a small purse or backpack in the shape of a stuffed giraffe, and a glass jar that contained an unknown substance.
“I asked him myself,” said Spence of the officer who called him to follow up Thursday. “Was she under the influence?”
So far police have not told him if that’s the reason the driver wound up on the wrong side of the highway causing such mayhem and serious injury.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.