Two women, an adult and a youth, were sent to Red Deer Regional Hospital when a Ford F350 truck struck their car from behind on northbound QEII Dec. 4.
The 30-year-old driver of the brown truck and his 22-year-old passenger had been approaching the scene of a multi-vehicle collision just north of the Bowden Institution at about 1:15 p.m.
“The driver of that vehicle spilled some coffee on himself, which took his attention away from the road,” said Const. Chris Warren. “By the time he looked up he realized traffic was stopping ahead of him which resulted in him rear-ending a Chrysler 300.”
Bruce Lange, 63, saw the car hit the ditch and ran across the road to the smashed-up vehicle, finding the victims unconscious.
“We're going to need fire and rescue to get these people out,” he said over a cellphone, standing on the hood of the car looking in at the trapped passengers through the sunroof.
The occupants had come to, but were disoriented.
“The teenager was in agony,” he said later. “The female driver's not bad. But the teenager's banged up with head injuries.”
Dave and Scott Annand were driving back to Joffre having just bought a new 4x4 truck in Calgary that morning.
“There was a big huge cloud of snow,” said Dave, the 40-year-old driver. “And I said, ‘Scott, do you see that?'”
Scott, 17, had been texting at the time and looked up to see the Chrysler in the ditch.
The emergency response included members of Bowden and Innisfail fire departments, Innisfail Integrated Traffic and Innisfail RCMP detachment police officers, and three separate ambulances.
The 22-year-old passenger of the F350 was taken away first by ambulance to be checked for whiplash.
He didn't see what happened because he had been looking down at his phone, he said.
The driver of the Chrysler was carried off on a stretcher before firefighters smashed the window and used the Jaws of Life to save the other female.
“They responded within minutes and worked tirelessly on the scene to ensure the safety of the people involved,” Const. Warren said of the emergency response. “Two female occupants of that vehicle were transported to Red Deer hospital via ground ambulance where one was treated for minor injuries and released. Another female has some serious but non-life-threatening injuries.”
Being distracted even momentarily can result in serious injury or worse, he said.
“We had somebody who admitted that they made an error,” he said. “When operating a vehicle, especially in the wintertime, it's of the utmost importance to have all your attention on driving.”
The driver of the F350 was charged with careless driving.
