A woman driving an ATV remains in hospital after plummeting off a steep cliff in Clarington.
The accident has left the 39-year-old woman with serious injuries.
The accident happened behind a property on Lakeshore Road Saturday around 6 p.m.
Fortunately, emergency crews were able to save the woman, who police say had fallen to the very bottom of the cliff.
Rescuers had to strap the woman to a stretcher and carefully haul her back up the cliff before they could airlift her to a trauma centre in Toronto.
“I think this was just a rookie mistake,” said Dave Selby with Durham police. “A person using an ATV that’s not really used to it…getting too close to the edge of a clip and then something bad happened.”
According to police, the ATV ended up nearly eight meters in Lake Ontario.
The DRPS Marine Unit has now recovered the all-terrain-vehicle and is performing a mechanical inspection. They hope the inspection will give them more answers into just how the driver of the ATV ended up losing control of her off-road vehicle.
Investigators don’t believe alcohol or drugs were a factor.
In the meantime, ATV experts are reminding riders to be careful and to drive in safe areas.
“If you’re operating them in a environment where there are apparent dangers, then that’s something you need to consider and that’s something you want to avoid,” said Richard Ginn, a technician with ATV shop Spoiled Sports.
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