An area resident is spreading the message about the dangers of impaired and dangerous driving after witnessing a dramatic crash near Prince Albert in late February.
Shawn Kristensen was heading down Highway 355 on Feb. 21. He and a woman driving behind his vehicle were slowing down and signalled to turn left off of the highway.
A third driver came fling past, passing a gravel truck and another car. With a semi in the oncoming lane, the third driver tried to sneak back in to the main lane. Instead, the driver allegedly struck the woman’s car from behind, pushing her into the path of the oncoming truck’s trailer. The semi collided with the car, sharing off the front of the vehicle, and throwing it into the ditch.
The car that caused the collision ended up flipping into the turnoff.
The drivers of both vehicles were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. According to the Prince Albert RCMP, police and fire were on scene for about two hours.
A 32-year-old man from Sturgeon Lake First nation will be facing charges of impaired driving causing bodily harm and dangerous driving in provincial court this April. The name of the man cannot be released as charges have not yet been sworn in court.
“I don’t agree with impaired driving and reckless or dangerous driving in the best of times. Everybody’s lucky that everybody lived,” Kristensen said.
“it was a significant accident. The one car was completely destroyed. For anybody to walk away from that is astounding in my eyes.”
