A 63-year-old Qualicum Beach man was seriously injured and the Island Highway closed for nearly three hours Tuesday afternoon following a single-vehicle accident in Bowser, Oceanside RCMP reported.
The victim was airlifted from the scene, at the intersection of Gainsberg Road, to Victoria General Hospital.
The Deep Bay Fire Department, B.C. Ambulance Services, Oceanside RCMP and Central Vancouver Island Traffic Services attended the accident, which took place at approximately 4:15 p.m. May 3.
The driver, the lone occupant of the vehicle, was driving southbound on the highway when he lost control of his 2004 Chevrolet Avalanche for an unknown reason, according to RCMP. The driver crossed the passing lane, the centre line, and both oncoming lanes before continuing over the ditch onto Gainsberg Road and eventually into a tree.
The vehicle had extensive damages and required the fire department to use machinery to do an extraction. The driver suffered very serious injuries to his back, ribs and legs and required an air ambulance to land and rush him to hospital.
As the scene included all four lanes of a highway, a subsidiary road, damage to power poles, and the need for a helicopter landing, the road was closed to all traffic for approximately three hours, RCMP Cpl. Jesse Foreman reported.
An RCMP traffic reconstructionist was called in to measure and examine the scene and an investigation by Central Vancouver Island Traffic is ongoing.
— Submitted by Oceanside RCMP