A highway disaster was narrowly averted when a driver instead collided with police vehicles during an RCMP traffic stop.
Headingley RCMP said they pulled over two vehicles Wednesday night on Hwy. 1 near Elie – a suspected impaired driver and a witness – when a westbound vehicle crashed into the passenger side of a police cruiser.
The cruiser then collided into a police SUV due to the force of the initial collision.
The westbound vehicle rolled and came to a stop on its roof. Its 82-year-old driver was wearing a seatbelt and wasn’t hurt, but police had to quickly extricate him from the crash due to smoke.
“Here is a perfect example of the dangers we face on a daily basis when we conduct traffic stops and why we stress the importance of drivers needing to slow down and move over,” said RCMP Sgt. Paul Manaigre Thursday.
“Thankfully, these officers and the members of the public walked away uninjured. This could have been so much worse.”
The driver in the initial traffic stop, a 28-year-old Winnipeg man, was arrested for impaired driving and taken to the Headingley RCMP detachment.
RCMP continue to investigate.
WATCH: ‘I could have been killed’: RCMP officer’s warning to Manitoba motorists