Van collides with fuel truck in Kelowna
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Updated: July 10, 2009 2:16 PM
Not wearing a seat belt may have saved the life of the driver of a van that inexplicably crossed the centre line and crashed head-on into a fuel truck on Highway 97 this morning.
Police say the van was in the right-hand lane heading north on Highway 97 near Duck Lake when the vehicle suddenly veered into the the far southbound lane, crashing into the fuel truck.
The collision in turn sent the fuel truck spinning over into the northbound lane, hitting a median and coming to a stop, avoiding a steep embankment on that side of the road.
Witnesses rushed to the scene and assisted the van's driver, the lone occupant in the vehicle, until the ambulance arrived.
Laura Banting, one of those witnesses, said the man was thrown into the back of the van by the force of the collision, which probably saved his life because the steering column was driven back into the driver's seat.
"He looked really shocked," said Banting, when the van's sliding door was initially opened to see how he was doing.
The driver of the fuel truck, part of the Spring Fuel Distributors Inc. fleet based out of Kelowna, was not injured.
Police say the van driver suffered a fractured leg and other lacerations.
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