When Arrowsmith Towing employee Garrett Knocke arrived at the scene of a two-car collision on the Alberni Highway last Saturday night, he wasnB次元官网网址檛 quite sure what he was seeing.
B次元官网网址淚 didnB次元官网网址檛 think it was going to be like this,B次元官网网址� Knocke said of the 1991 BMW sedan, which crossed the path of a Dodge Dakota pickup on rain-slicked Highway 4 near Little Qualicum River Falls Provincial Park shortly before 8 p.m. B次元官网网址淭rent (the dispatcher) told me it was ripped in half, but I didnB次元官网网址檛 think literally ripped in half. WeB次元官网网址檝e had some where theyB次元官网网址檝e been bent, almost in half. But nothing like this.B次元官网网址�
The most surprising thing of all, to both Knocke and the RCMP officers who responded to the scene, was the the driver, who was from Nanaimo, got out of the remaining front half of the car and walked away without serious injury.
The two pieces of the vehicle rested this week in Arrowsmith TowingB次元官网网址檚 wrecking yard, just metres from the crumpled remains of a Chevrolet Citation that had been rear-ended by a semi-truck on Highway 19 three days earlier.
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B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e been doing this for 25 years and IB次元官网网址檝e never seen a car sheared in half from a collision,B次元官网网址� said Bert Girard, owner of Arrowsmith Towing.
Knocke said Arrowsmith Towing returned to the scene the following morning to collect the rear passenger door and other parts flung off the road by the force of the impact.
The BMW was traveling westbound, police said. A witness told Knocke the driver moved into a passing lane to go around another vehicle when it B次元官网网址渟tarted fishtailingB次元官网网址� and crossed in front of the pickup, travelling easbound with two people from the Qualicum Beach area.
The pickup struck the dark-blue BMW just behind the front passenger door and took the back end off as it continued down the roadway. The BMWB次元官网网址檚 driveshaft separated from the transmission and the rear axle, gas tank and frame were a crumpled mass that Knocke said, B次元官网网址渄oesnB次元官网网址檛 look like a car anymore.B次元官网网址�
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The front of the vehicle, however, particularly the driverB次元官网网址檚 side to the rear wheel well, was left in almost perfect condition.
B次元官网网址淵ou could still get parts from this,B次元官网网址� Knocke said, indicating the open hood.
The passenger in the pickup truck was hospitalized overnight with what was reported to be a broken ankle. Otherwise, there were no major injuries in the incident.
Days later, Girard was still mystified at the way the BWM separated on impact. He contrast the damage with the Highway 19 collision earlier in the week, when the semi barreled into both the aforementioned Citation and a Chevy pickup truck.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e seen a lot of things here,B次元官网网址� said Girard. B次元官网网址淵ou look at that pickup, and the bed was ripped off the back because of the weight and speed of the impact by the semi.
B次元官网网址淏ut ripping a car in half like that, that is definitley unheard-of, no question.B次元官网网址�
