Officers travelling along a busy highway in Nanaimo were stunned when they noticed a woman driving the wrong way, forcing multiple vehicles to avoid a head-on collision with her.
Nanaimo RCMP say officers with the Vancouver Island RCMP Emergency Response Team (ERT) were travelling northbound on the Trans-Canada Highway, near Eagle Quest Golf Centre, when they looked over and saw a woman driving beside them.
That normally wouldn’t be an issue, except in this case, Nanaimo RCMP says, the woman was actually driving the wrong way — heading northbound in the southbound lanes.
Officers, who watched in horror as at least eight vehicles were forced to avoid a head-on collision with the wayward woman, immediately activated their sirens and drove beside the vehicle for a short distance.
Eventually, officers were able to get the woman to stop and had to jump out of their vehicle and over the concrete divider, in order to wave ongoing traffic away from the woman’s vehicle.
Nanaimo RCMP says the 34-year-old motorist failed two roadside breath tests, held in custody overnight, and released Wednesday morning.
Her vehicle was impounded and she was issued a 90-day driving prohibition and also ticketed for driving without due care and attention.
“This was tragedy waiting to happen and was only diverted by the decisive actions and quick thinking ERT members. Excellent work on their behalf,” Const. Gary O’Brien of the Nanaimo RCMP said in the release.
CHEK News
