Impaired Drivers Play Havoc on Otter Point Road

Fire crews had a busy weekend dealing with 3 separate motor vehicle crashes, all apparently involving impaired drivers. The first incident occured in the Otter Point District when a speeding vehicle left the road, hit and sheered off a hydro pole, rolled over and then crashed into the brush where it then caught on fire. Otter Point firefighters arrived on scene but could not access the fire due to the downed pole and hydro lines across the roadway. A callout to Sooke had several apparatus respond from the other side of the incident. With Engine 1 out of service with a broken water pump, Ladder 1 responded with backup from Tender 1 if additional water was required. Crews successfully extinguished the fully involved jeep and the surrounding cedar trees that were also burning. It appears the driver was thrown clear, but fortunately for the passenger, neighbours and bystanders pulled him out before the fire grew in size. Passerbys were also shocked to find hundreds of dollars in bills and coins scattered amongst all the debris from the car crash.
The second incident just a day later occured at the Dumont Tire site when an out of control vehicle being pursued by Sooke RCMP left the roadway and entered the parking lot where it struck a large vehicle spinning it around. Unfortunately one of the employees was next to the car when it was struck. He was thrown into the air, hitting and breaking the back window of a second vehicle before being thrown about 20 feet further where he landed on the asphalt parking area. The original vehicle continued to travel hitting another parked vehicle which then collided with another parked vehicle. Five vehicles in all were damaged, several likely to be written off. The employee suffered broken ribs, a deflated lung, several serious facial lacerations and injuries to his leg although many consider him lucky to be alive. The driver was not injured and was arrested by police and faces a variety of charges.
Just a few hours later, crews responded to the 2600 block of Otter Point Road where an ATV had crashed. The impaired driver, without a helmet had been racing up and down the road, narrowly being hit by the fire chief only 20 minutes earlier when he was seen racing down the centre line of the roadway. He turned into a driveway, talked to the occupants of the property who did not know him and then watched him race away. Just before he was about to reenter the roadway, he hit a large rock and was thrown from the ATV. The driver was knocked unconscious and suffered facial and hand lacerations. He was taken to VGH for treatment and also faces a variety of charges.
Tough times to be on the road. Just goes to show you can never be to careful when you have drivers like these sharing the roads with us.