Skip to content

Joyride turns bad for Langford teens

A suspected teenage drunk driver suffered serious injuries after careening a minivan into lamp pole at high speed on Helmcken Road

A suspected teenage drunk driver suffered serious injuries after careening a minivan into lamp pole at high speed on Helmcken Road early Wednesday morning.

A southbound Toyota Sienna van lost control on Helmcken at about 1:10 a.m. after it plowed over the roundabout at Vickery Road, veered into the oncoming lane, sheared a tree and then crumpled head-on against a lamp standard.

The crashed pinned the driver, a 17-year-old Langford male, between the dashboard and steering wheel. Firefighters extracted the teen using the Jaws of Life, a painstaking process that took about 10 minutes.

He was transported to nearby Victoria General Hospital with head trauma, among other injuries.

“They hit the pole travelling well over 100 kilometres per hour,” said View Royal fire Chief Paul Hurst. “There were no skid marks. They just nailed it.”

The passenger, a Langford male, either 18 or 19 years old, survived relatively unhurt, and was standing outside the vehicle when firefighters arrived. Hurst said he was wearing his seat belt.

West Shore RCMP confirmed that alcohol and drugs are likely a factor in the single vehicle crash. RCMP officers are still investigating.

editor@goldstreamgazette.com