A truck flew across the grassy median on the Trans-Canada Highway this morning and plowed into an oncoming vehicle.
The crash sent three people to hospital with non-life threatening injuries and tied up traffic on the highway in both directions for hours.
View Royal Fire Rescue said a grey Ford pickup truck driving eastbound went across the median east of the Colwood exit at about 10:50 a.m. Friday. It slid into the path of a westbound white Dodge pickup, which violently T-boned the oncoming vehicle.
View Royal firefighters extricated two people trapped in the crumpled Dodge. The lone driver in the Ford managed to crawl out of his vehicle.
View Royal fire chief Paul Hurst said it's lucky people walked away with relatively minor injuries. He said its unclear why the grey pickup drove across the median, other than noting that the roadway was wet at the time.
Although the crash was confined to westbound lanes, Hurst said eastbound traffic was backed up worse than traffic trying to head out of Victoria.
“Everyone (going eastbound) was slowing down to take pictures of the scene. It was a real problem,” Hurst said. “I guess people have to get their shots for YouTube.”
B.C. Ambulance crews and West Shore RCMP also attended the scene. It’s not yet known if the driver that crossed the highway will face a fine.