Vernon police seek highway crash witnesses

By Staff Writer - Vernon Morning Star Published: January 25, 2012 4:00 PM
RCMP are looking for witnesses to a Highway 97 accident Wednesday morning that sent a Vernon man to Kelowna General Hospital with serious injuries.  Crews were called to a collision on the highway south of Vernon near Bailey Road at 7:15 a.m. “A brown Chev pickup was travelling southbound when contact was made between the pickup and an unloaded tractor trailer unit,” said Vernon-North Okanagan RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk. The pickup left the highway and rolled down the east side embankment. The driver of the truck, a 27-year-old Vernon man, was the lone occupant. He was transported to Kelowna General Hospital. “The preliminary investigation has determined that a northbound black tractor-trailer unit was an unloaded flat deck trailer,” said Molendyk. “The driver of the transport truck has come forward. The driver told police a middle-aged man believed to be driving a Suzuki car stopped and spoke to him right after the collision, and then left the area.” Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed the crash, or was in the area of Bailey Road right around the time of the accident who may have observed either vehicle prior to the collision, to please call them. “They are attempting to piece together the events that led up to this collision,” said Molendyk.