A 56-year-old woman is in critical condition at a Victoria hospital after her car collided with a tractor-trailer early Friday morning.

Just before 5 a.m., Crofton volunteer firefighters were called to the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and Somenos Road after a Duncan RCMP officer came upon the crash scene.

“A small red Nissan was located on the northbound shoulder of the Trans-Canada Highway with major damage to its driver’s side,” said detachment spokesman Cpl. Jon Stuart in a press release. “A lone female driver was found seriously injured in the driver’s seat. Police tended to her until an off-duty paramedic arrived on scene to assist.”

A grey Freightliner tractor-trailer was in the southbound lane of the Trans-Canada Highway.

“The truck had major damage to its front end,” Stuart said. “The truck driver stated both vehicles were traveling southbound on the Trans-Canada Highway when the red car turned in front of him at Somenos Road.”

It wasn’t long after that when Crofton emergency crews asked for North Cowichan’s South End firefighters to bring the Jaws of Life to the scene, though the equiment wasn't required to extract the woman from her vehicle.

She was taken by ambulance to Cowichan District Hospital but shortly after was transferred to Victoria, where she remains in critical condition.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, a 41-year-old Duncan-area man, was also taken to hospital for examination.

The highway was closed for several hours while officers investigated and crews cleaned up.

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