Somehow, no one was killed in a spectacular crash on Highway 97 north of Penticton on Wednesday afternoon.
The two-vehicle crash, just north of the Sage Mesa turnoff, occurred shortly after 4 p.m. as a southbound Honda careened across the highway and slammed into a northbound pickup truck pulling a fifth-wheel camper trailer.
Force of the collision sent the truck and trailer careening into Okanagan Lake, while the Honda was torn in two. The car‘s front axle ended up several metres away from the mangled wreckage, while bits of wreckage were strewn across the pavement.
Skid marks were clearly visible across the roadway. The highway was closed for about two hours, backing up traffic for kilometres in both directions.
The woman driver of the car was taken by ambulance to Penticton Regional Hospital with undisclosed injuries. However, she was conscious and alert, said Capt. Tom Smith of the Penticton fire department.
The three occupants of the truck, all from Kelowna, managed to climb out through the window of the partially submerged vehicle. The driver suffered a scrape and bruising to his arm, otherwise they were unhurt..
Driver Ron Botterill said he barely had time to react when he saw the oncoming car veering towards him.
“I hit the brakes, but the momentum just carried us,” he said. “I tried to get over as much as I could.”
The collision sent the truck and trailer flying off the highway and into the lake. The airbags deployed on impact.
Passenger Marian Grundy was in the back seat when the truck hit the water.
“I thought we were going to drown. We couldn‘t get the doors and windows open,” she said. “I thought we were in deep water.”
However, the lake was only about 1.5 metres deep at the site and the occupants, including Botterill‘s wife Kathy, managed to get a window open and scramble to shore.
Name and condition of the driver of the car was not immediately available.
