BRIDGETOWN, NS – When an RCMP officer crashed his cruiser into a guardrail early on the morning of Feb. 26 between Bridgetown and Annapolis Royal, his cop colleagues arrived on the scene quickly to find him directing traffic around the accident site.
Annapolis District RCMP Staff-Sgt. Dan MacGillivray said the crash occurred at 8:45 a.m. on a slippery Highway 101.
“Our member was doing his job. He was out working in the morning and he detected a car going at a high rate of speed in the opposite direction,” said MacGillivray. “The member was travelling east and the (speeding) vehicle was travelling west.”
MacGillivray said the officer made a turn and with lights flashing started to close the gap. That’s when it happened.
“It was slick yesterday morning and he just hydroplaned and struck the guardrail,” MacGillivray said. “The vehicle came to rest right on the highway. Right on Highway 101.”
The front end of the Ford Taurus and the driver’s side front fender and door appear to have struck the guardrail. The driver’s door window also appeared to have been smashed out by the impact.
“He was okay,” said MacGillivray. “He received some minor cuts to his hand from glass, but otherwise he’s okay.”
Other RCMP officers arrived in short order.
“We were on scene fairly quickly,” said MacGillivray. “He was directing traffic when we got there and once we had sufficient resources he was taken to the hospital there in Annapolis Royal.”
He said police took pictures at the scene and started and investigation.
The staff sergeant figures it could have been a lot worse.
“But he’s okay,” MacGillivray said. “The vehicle I consider a write-off. Fortunately the guardrail did its job. He ended up on the highway. He probably would have gone off otherwise.”
