RCMP say that an 82-year-old driver is facing a number of charges under the Highway Traffic Act after he slammed his car into an RCMP cruiser parked on the side of the Trans-Canada Highway.
Police say that on November 14, 2018, they had responded to an impaired driving complaint just east of Elie. Police came upon two vehicles on the left-hand shoulder and pulled their SUV in behind.
The vehicles contained the suspected impaired driver and a witness.
As the investigation unfolded the suspect was placed in the police SUV just as a second police cruiser pulled in behind to assist in the investigation. The officer from the police cruiser that had just pulled up was approaching the witness vehicle when he saw a car slam into the passenger side of his cruiser pushing it into the police SUV parked just in from of it then roll onto its roof.
The suspect and officer in the SUV were not injured in the collision.
Police pulled an 82-year-old male driver from the vehicle on its roof that was beginning to smoke. The driver had been wearing his seat belt and was not injured.
The 28-year-old driver who had been suspected of impaired driving was arrested and charged.
RCMP say that this collision could have been avoided had the driver of the vehicle that had collided with the police cruiser pulled over into the lane farthest away from the officers and slowed down.
In Manitoba the law requires anyone who sees an emergency vehicle, including tow trucks, with their lights activated on the side of the road to slow down to 60 km/hr if the posted limit is 80 km/hr or higher, or slow down to 40 km/hr if the posted limit is less than 80 km/hr.
RCMP are continuing to investigate
© 2018 News 4
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