Vehicle-vs-house MVA prompts police to public warning
A vehicle-versus-house MVA on Wednesday has prompted police to remind residents that the emergency brake is an important second precaution.
Castlegar RCMP Cpl. Debbie Postnikoff said police got a call at 11:49 a.m. on Feb 25 to attend a motor vehicle accident in the 1000 block of 7 Avenue.
“We arrived to find a Ford F350 truck had, in fact, come out of park, rolling down a very steep driveway, across a thoroughfare, and came to rest against a house,” she said, explaining this likely happened because of the transmission slipping. “Luckily, there were no vehicles or pedestrians in the street at the time.”
There were thousands of dollars of damage to the truck, and the garage of the home sustained damage to the stucco and eaves – but it could have been far, far worse.
“That’s a busy time of day,” Postnikoff said, adding a large truck like this one, while out of control, could have seriously injured pedestrians or other motorists.
“It’s a good reminder to be sure your emergency brake is engaged when you park on a steep grade.”
Just minutes before, on the same day, police were called to an MVA in the 1600 block of Columbia Avenue, in which no one was injured but one person was issued a violation ticket following too closely.
Finally, Thursday saw an accident at 13 Street and Columbia Avenue, in which a person pulling onto Columbia Avenue from 13 Street got partway through the intersection, only to have their vehicle stall, at which point they were struck by an oncoming motorist. There were no injuries or violation tickets issued in association with this mishap.