A 36-year-old man has been charged with impaired driving causing bodily harm, among other charges, after a four-car chain reaction collision on Elgin Street last night that caused serious injuries to two women.
Just after 8 p.m. on July 28, the driver of a Nissan Infiniti lost control, causing a chain reaction of collisions, Greater Sudbury Police Staff Sgt. Rick Waugh told Sudbury.com this morning.
The Infiniti slammed into a parked Hyundai Santa Fe, which in turn collided with a parked Toyota Prius, that then slammed into parked a Honda Accord.
The collision also resulted in the Santa Fe running into a parking meter and a light standard, which were both “sheared off,” Waugh said.
A woman in the driver's seat of the Santa Fe was taken to hospital with serious but non life-threatening injuries. She remains in hospital today.
Three people who had also been in the Santa Fe narrowly escaped the collision, as they had just exited the vehicle after it was parked.
A woman who was in the passenger seat of the Infiniti was also taken to hospital with serious but non life-threatening injuries.
The driver of the Infiniti was charged with two counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm, two counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm, blowing over 80, and breaching a court condition dealing with abstaining from alcohol.
The suspect was two times over the legal alcohol limit, police say.
Waugh said the collision could have been much worse, given three people had just exited one of the affected vehicles. As it was a warm summer evening, there were also a lot of pedestrians and vehicles in the downtown last night.
He said it makes him wonder what it's going to take to get the message across about the dangers of impaired driving.
“Two days ago, we were at the grand opening of the DJ Hancock Splash Pad,” he said.
“So this didn't result in a loss of life, but there were serious tragic injuries here, and all because somebody decided to drive impaired by alcohol.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Greater Sudbury Police at 705-675-9171 or Crime Stoppers at 705-222-TIPS or by texting TIPSUD and the information to CRIMES (274637).
