A Christina Lake man was taken to hospital Sunday night, Nov. 15, after his car drove off Highway 3 near Gilpin Forest Service Road, according to Grand Forks Fire/Rescue.
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Deputy Chief Rich Piché said the man told first responders he’d swerved to avoid a deer on the road. His car, a 2000’s model sedan, left the eastbound lane, landing in a ditch on the opposite side of the highway.
Volunteer firefighters treated the man at the scene for a gash above his nose. A search by fire, ambulance and RCMP responders showed the man hit the car’s steering column hard enough to bend the steering wheel. The car’s air bags were not deployed.
Piché said the man at first refused an ambulance, but Piché insisted that he be examined by arriving paramedics. An ambulance crew took the man, said to be 60 years old, to Boundary Hospital in Grand Forks at around 7:30 p.m.
Grand Forks RCMP ruled out drugs and alcohol at the scene.
Motorists are most likely to encounter wildlife on British Columbia roads in November and May, according to the website, DriveSmartBC. On average, four people are killed in the province every year stemming from roadside accidents involving wildlife.
Online literature from B.C’s Wildlife Collision Prevention Program recommends that drivers break, not swerve, to avoid hitting small animals like deer — only when road and traffic conditions allow.
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laurie.tritschler@grandforksgazette.ca
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