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Truck loses a wheel in crash, keeps going, crashes again in Nanaimo

One person taken to hospital following accident on Townsite Road on Tuesday

A motorist was taken to hospital after reportedly crashing three times on Townsite Road on Tuesday afternoon.

B.C. Ambulance Service, Nanaimo Fire Rescue and Nanaimo RCMP were called to Townsite and East Wellington roads at 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, where a pickup truck had crashed into a utility pole.

A witness said the truck had originally been involved in a crash with an electric car at the intersection with Bush Street. The pickup lost a wheel in that collision, but continued west for blocks, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with an ambulance and rear-ending another pickup truck before going off the road left and crashing into the pole.

Crews on scene said a the 50-year-old woman driving the truck was transported to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital with unknown but non-life-threatening injuries.

The 49-year-old driver of the Tesla was shaken, but physically uninjured. The 45-year-old driver of the pickup truck that was rear-ended was also not injured. He was able to drive away from the scene, but the other two vehicles had to be towed.

Traffic was closed in both directions while crews cleared the scene and B.C. Hydro crews replaced the utility pole broken by the impact of the truck.

Const. Gary O’Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman, said Wednesday police were continuing their investigation into the cause of the crash.

“We’ve been able to rule out weather and drugs and alcohol as factors in the collision,” O’Brien said. “The investigation’s continuing. No charges have been laid.”

Investigators would like to speak with witnesses to the incident and view any dashcam video footage that might have been recorded. Anyone with information about the collisions is asked to call Nanaimo RCMP detachment’s non-emergency line at 250-754-2345 and quote file No. 2020-12972.

For past coverage of car crashes in the Nanaimo area, click here.

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An RCMP officer takes photo evidence after a pickup truck collided with an electric car on Townsite Road at Bush Street and then continued on, narrowly missing an ambulance, until it hit a utility pole at Townsite and East Wellington roads Tuesday afternoon. (CHRIS BUSH/The News Bulletin)
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