Seatbelts Save Two Lives

Seatbelts are being credited with saving the life of a local driver and her passenger after their  vehicle collided with another vehicle stalled on the Highway near Morden road yesterday afternoon.

At 12:40 PM yesterday a 1993 Plymouth Sundance driven by a 21 year old female driver, broke down at the intersection of Morden Rd and Highway 1.The driver couldn’t seem to activate her emergency flashers so she left her vehicle momentarily and ran to a near by store for assistance. While only gone from her vehicle for a few minutes, a southbound 2007 Saturn collided with her car. The Saturn, driven by a 27 year old female hit the back of Sundance so hard it pushed the rear tires into the back seat of the stalled vehicle.

The driver received only minor injuries to her neck and some abrasions from her seatbelt but over all was not seriously injured. She was taken to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital by BC Ambulance for observation. Her female passenger, age 25, was not injured in any way. Both vehicles were towed from the scene.

“This is a perfect example of a serious collision resulting in only minor injuries because the driver and passenger were wearing seatbelt’s correctly"said Constable Gary O’Brien, media spokesperson for the Nanaimo RCMP. “Seatbelts save lives, these vehicles were extensively damaged but the driver and her passenger owe their lives to their seatbelts ”said O’Brien.

Two Businesses Broken Into Over Night

Thieves were busy last night after two businesses in the 2500 block of Bowen Rd were broken into.

The first occurred sometime overnight at Wheeling and Dealing Motors, located at 2540 Bowen Rd. In that incident thieves attempted to break into the office on site. They were unsuccessful but did manage to start up a Volkswagaon van in the yard. It was then rammed into another vehicle parked nearby , possibly in an attempt to drive it off the lot. Other vehicles were rummaged through and the Nanaimo RCMP Forensics Unit attended in the morning. This incident is still under investigation.

The next break and enter also happened overnight at Diana’s Garden Center, located at 2517 Bowen Rd. Suspects climbed the outer perimeter fence gaining access to the outside garden area. Officers believe items were then thrown over the wall to a waiting vehicle as several articles were found stock piled near the fence. Items taken included a Moss dolphin, and several Maple trees valued at $150 dollars each.

Anyone with information on these two crimes are asked to contact the Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or go online to www.nanaimocrimestoppers.com