Victoria police say they believe the driver of a black SUV that slammed into a vehicle at Quadra Street and Fairfield Road on Tuesday and hit a pedestrian before careening into a building had suffered a medical incident before the crash.
Four people were transported to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries after the collision at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to Const. Cam MacIntyre.
Victoria police say the black SUV was travelling southbound on Quadra Street when it struck a vehicle stopped at a traffic light. That vehicle, in turn, hit the car in front of it.
The black SUV continued across the intersection and struck a pedestrian before running into the Canadian Red Cross Society building on the corner of Fairfield Road.
The driver and two passengers of the black SUV, along with the pedestrian, were all transported to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, said MacIntyre.
VicPD’s collision analyst conducted an investigation and traffic remained closed in the area for several hours.
A driver, who asked that his name not be used, said he was stopped at a red light in his grey Mercedes-Benz C-class sedan with his wife and children, ages two and four, when a black BMW SUV smashed into them from behind at high speed and continued into the Red Cross building on Fairfield Road.
The man and his family were unhurt, but he said he saw at least a couple of people being treated on the sidewalk.
“This black SUV just smashes into the back of me. Some people say it might have been a heart attack,” he said.
Witnesses said the driver was found crumpled over at the wheel, and had his foot on the gas at the time of the crash.
The man, who had been on his way home a few blocks away, said his was the second of two southbound cars stopped at a light on Quadra. He saw the male driver of the BMW briefly in his rear-view mirror before the impact. A woman was in the passenger seat, he said.
The struck sedan bumped a southbound Smart car in front of him into the intersection to the right — that car appeared largely undamaged — and spun 180 degrees to the left.
The BMW SUV continued through the intersection to the left, then slammed into the Red Cross building, he said. All of the SUV’s front and side impact airbags deployed.
With the back bumper of his car crumpled, the man drove his family home, then returned to give a statement to police. Calm, but admittedly in a bit of shock, he said the children were playing at home, but he and his wife plan to have them examined today as a precaution.
He said he has been in a crash once before, after swerving to miss a deer and flipping his vehicle onto its roof, “but this was worse because the kids were in the car.”
Following Tuesday’s crash, Quadra was blocked off at Humboldt Avenue and Burdett Avenue.
Fairfield Road was blocked from Douglas Street to Quadra.
Yellow police tape blocked off a swath of roadway to capture the debris field and tire tracks in the pavement.
Police ask anyone with information about the crash to call the Victoria police report desk at (250) 995-7654, extension 1. To report what you know anonymously, call Greater Victoria Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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