A Vancouver Island woman said she feared a single vehicle collision that closed down a section of the Island Highway and sent two people to hospital could have ended very differently. Alex McQueen said her husband was within minutes of being in the way of the car she suspected was speeding.
“He is very specific about the time that he leaves, but he was like two minutes behind schedule. Our driveway is quite long, so as he was driving down he saw the tail lights just fly by the driveway,” she said.
The car struck a power pole at the 5300 block of Highway 19A, near Qualicum Landing and the road was closed while contractors repaired the cable, which was laying across the road, according to Cpl. Jesse Foreman of the Oceanside RCMP.
McQueen and her husband Matthew were the first on scene and found a 22 year-old male driver with a 17 year-old female passenger, who were both responsive. The driver and passenger sat in Matthew’s vehicle while he stopped traffic where the power line was hanging low, according to Alex.
“My husband has remarked that he feels like guardian angels were out this morning,” Alex said in an email to Oceanside News.
Alcohol and drugs were not a factor in the crash, according to Foreman. Alex said she believes speed may have played a role.
“We thought it was actually going to be a semi truck when we were going out there because they were so loud. They were accelerating through the corner,” she said.
The corner where the accident happened is sharp and Alex said she and her husband see an incident the same place a few times every year.
“That’s a super dangerous corner, which is why there are signs to slow to 50,” she said.
Foreman did not know if speed was a factor or if the road was icy at the time of the crash.
