The young driver involved in a rollover accident that took place on Rainbow Road Thursday afternoon is lucky to have escaped unharmed after being trapped under the vehicle.
Salt Spring RCMP, Salt Spring Fire Rescue and BC Ambulance crews were quick on the scene of the single-vehicle incident. The Dodge truck left the road just across from 512 Rainbow Rd., at around 1 p.m.
A passenger in the truck was able to escape the vehicle but the female driver could not exit because one of her arms was pinned beneath the truck, which had landed upside down on a steep embankment. After paramedics assessed the driver’s condition, SSFR members used struts to stabilize the truck and lifting bags to raise the vehicle. They then cut through a metal bar and helped her exit through the back window. She was able to walk to the waiting stretcher under her own power.
“We witnessed great teamwork between Salt Spring Fire Rescue and BC Ambulance,” reported RCMP Sgt. Brett Sinden, who is the interim detachment commander, on Monday.
Sinden said the cause of the accident is thought to be over-correction on a tight corner. No impairment is suspected.
Alcohol is believed to be a factor in a second single-vehicle incident that took a car right off the North End Road roadway and into heavy brush on Saturday evening. A single occupant was in the car at the time of the crash, located near Fernwood.
Sinden said that driver was also fortunate not to have sustained any injuries.