Both drivers escaped serious injury when a pair of pickup trucks collided at the intersection of Highway 19 and Northwest Bay Road in Nanoose Bay shortly before 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.
A Ford F350 crew cab truck travelling southbound on Highway 19 was staged in the intersection for a left turn onto Northwest Bay Road when the traffic signal turned yellow, said Cst. Doug Pennington of the RCMP’s Central Island Traffic Services.
As the Ford began turning left, it was struck by a GMC Sierra pickup that entered the intersection on the yellow signal while travelling northbound in the passing lane on Highway 19.
“We have three witnesses, so it’s pretty clear-cut,” said Pennington.
Traffic northbound from Nanaimo quickly backed up, as well as traffic on Northwest Bay Road approaching the intersection. RCMP members directed traffic by hand while members of the Nanoose Bay Volunteer Fire Department cleaned debris from the site while the trucks were loaded for towing.
The front end of the GMC was left crumpled and the driver’s air bag deployed. The driver was able to exit the vehicle and required no medical attention. The Ford appeared to suffer only minimal damage to its front passenger-side fender.
The scene was cleared an normal traffic flow resumed at about 9:20 a.m., though some delays remained with traffic backup up on northbound Highway 19.
