A Sundre area motorist who inadvertently ditched a black Jeep Grand Cherokee in the Bearberry Creek last week escaped lightly bruised and stunned but otherwise unharmed, according to police.
A friend and passenger with the 39-year-old male driver also escaped serious injuries in the March 30 crash, said the Sundre RCMP detachment's Sgt. Jim Lank.
He said the vehicle drove off of the corner of First Street northwest on the south bank of the creek near the local Fish and Wildlife office around 11 p.m. that Thursday night. However, the driveró who also owned the vehicle ó did not report the incident until about 7:30 a.m. the following morning, said Lank.
"His reason (for ending up in the creek) was he had dozed off or wasn't paying attention."
The vehicle did not appear to have lost control coming around the turn, but rather simply went straight over the embankment and into the creek, he said.
According to the motorist's statement, the sergeant said the male had admitted to consuming alcohol after work on Thursday evening. However, authorities could not establish what the driver's blood-alcohol content had actually been at the time of the accident.
"We weren't able to determine his level of sobriety," he said.
In accordance with the Traffic Safety Act, he said police charged the man with careless driving as well as failure to report a collision in a timely manner, which both carry fines but no mandatory court appearances.
"Drivers involved in an accident are required to report it to police as soon as possible or practical," Lank said, adding the driver did not provide a justifiable reason for waiting until the next morning to call police.
Additionally, motorists who knowingly get behind the wheel when tired and end up in a crash can be charged under the Traffic Safety Act, he said.
"If you get into a vehicle tired, that's careless."
Neither driver nor passenger was treated for medical emergencies at the Sundre hospital, said Lank, adding, all things considered, the driver and his passenger were quite fortunate, he said.
"It's a good thing the creek wasn't too high, they were very lucky."
Efforts to remove the vehicle from the creek lasted for the better part of Friday morning. The sergeant told the Round Up later that afternoon that police were still investigating how and why the male drove the jeep into the creek.
