Impaired driving was a possible factor in a two-vehicle crash in Nanaimo early this morning.
Nanaimo Fire Rescue, RCMP and B.C. Ambulance Service responded to the collision shortly before 5 a.m. Monday, Jan. 20, north of the intersection of Terminal Avenue and Cypress Street.
“We were dispatched to a motor vehicle collision ... to a report that the driver was trapped,” said reserve Const. Gary O’Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesperson.
He said each vehicle had a single occupant and both vehicles, a northbound pickup truck and a southbound sedan, were travelling on Terminal Avenue.
“The vehicle heading north on Terminal Avenue appeared to have crossed the centre line, just north of the intersection and there was a collision,” he said.
The driver of the sedan was taken to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital with minor injuries, with police crediting the vehicle’s airbags for potentially preventing more serious injuries.
“The driver of the northbound vehicle was not taken to NRGH and was able to walk away,” O’Brien said.
Both vehicles were damaged beyond repair and towed from the scene. The roads were not icy at the time of the crash, say police.
“It appears that the northbound driver may have fallen asleep,” O’Brien said. “There were symptoms of alcohol consumption.”
That driver received an immediate three-day roadside driving prohibition and was ticketed for driving without due care and attention.
