By Kamloops This Week
An SUV with poor tread on its winter tires left the road linking Kamloops to Sun Peaks Resort and rolled down a steep, 100-foot embankment on Christmas Day, sending six people to Royal Inland Hospital.
Three of those injured were reported to be in serious condition.
Kamloops Rural RCMP Staff Sgt. Doug Aird said the 2010 Lexus SUV was being driven by a Surrey resident westbound on Heffley-Louis Creek Road at 11:40 a.m. when it left the road coming out of a turn.
Aird said the Lexus crossed the centre line sideways and went down the steep embankment, rolling once before it came to a rest with its roof against a tree.
Paramedics and firefighters removed two occupants on spine boards.
The female driver, who is the mother of the teens in the vehicle, received serious pelvic injuries.
Two passengers received internal and facial injuries.
Al three are listed in serious condition.
Aird said two of the teenaged passengers received bruising and bumps to their head and injuries to their necks consistent with seatbelt use.
“Airbags both in the front and on the side windows no doubt played a huge role in preventing more catastrophic injuries,” Aird said.
Police say the cause of the collision is under investigation.
Aird said roads were wet with some gravel and were in good driving condition at the time of the collision, adding police did note the Lexus’s winter tires were at less than one-quarter tread.