A silver sedan crashed into the front corner of a house on Swordfern Rd. The driver told neighbours they were driving 5 kilometres per hour and claims they'd fallen asleep at the wheel. (submitted/Jen Rollins)

By Alex Rawnsley

Alarming crash

Neighbours apprehend accused impaired driver, who hit south Nanaimo home with car

Jul 7, 2020 | 6:33 AM

NANAIMO — Speed and drugs are believed to be factors in a weekend crash involving a vehicle launching towards a south Nanaimo home.

Nanaimo RCMP and Fire Rescue were called to the 2000 block of Swordfern Rd. just after midnight on Sunday, July 5. A silver sedan had jumped the curb and crashed into the front yard of a house on the corner of Extension Rd.

“The driver unwisely decided to leave the scene,” RCMP Cst. Gary O’Brien told NanaimoNewsNOW. “A number of neighbours heard the commotion and corralled him until we arrived. The individual was believed to be under the influence of drugs.”

O’Brien said the driver was given a 24-hour driving prohibition and his vehicle was towed. He was taken to hospital with chest soreness, likely due to the deployed airbag, O’Brien said.

The house sustained minor damage, along with a truck parked in the yard.

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Jen Rollins was one of the neighbours who helped track down the driver before police arrived. She said the driver claimed he fell asleep at the wheel and vowed he was only doing 5 kilometres per hour.

“His car was launched from the sidewalk, over about 30 feet of landscape and not a piece of rock was touched. If the truck wasn’t there, he would have gone into the house and caused a lot more damage.”

The driver’s identity can’t be revealed because he was charged under the Motor Vehicle act and not the Criminal Code of Canada.

NanaimoNewsNOW will publish an in-depth story this week outlining safety concerns local residents have involving vehicular traffic on Extension Rd. and the City’s position on potential remedies.

— with files from Ian Holmes

alex.rawnsley@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley