A VEHICLE crossed the centre-line Monday, crashing into a cement truck, vaulting over the barriers and catching fire on impact.
Vehicle vaults off bank
By Jennifer Smith - Vernon Morning Star
Published: July 15, 2008 7:00 PM
A 20-year-old male has been air-lifted to Vancouver General Hospital’s burn unit following a serious accident near Predator Ridge Monday.
The Kelowna passenger remains in stable condition and the driver of the vehicle, a 31-year-old Kelowna man, has since been released from Vernon Jubilee Hospital.
RCMP and ambulance crews attended the scene on Highway 97 after receiving the call at 4:45 p.m.
The vehicle, a 2003 Infiniti, was in the southbound lane on the highway near the turnoff to Predator Ridge when it crashed into oncoming traffic and then vaulted over the cement barrier and caught on fire.
“It crossed the centre-line into the oncoming traffic northbound lane and collided with a cement truck,” said Gord Molendyk, RCMP spokesperson.
The male driver of the cement truck, from Vernon, was not injured, but the car proceeded over the cement barrier.
“It came to rest about 60 metres down in the embankment and caught on fire,” said Molendyk.
The highway was subsequently closed down while the vehicle’s occupants were lifted out and ambulanced to hospital.
The accident remains under investigation.
