SUNDRE — A 73-year-old male and lone occupant of an SUV was responsive after the vehicle he was driving hit a local credit union, but could not recall what happened in the moments leading up to the collision.
The Sundre RCMP received at 2:41 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14 a call of a vehicle that had collided into the connectFirst Credit Union – formerly Mountain View Credit Union – on the east side of Centre Street just north of the Main Avenue traffic lights.
Upon arriving at the scene, detachment commander Sgt. Trent Sperlie said a small SUV had come to a rest pressed up against the building’s front end. The vehicle did not drive head-on into the building, but rather side-swiped the structure, he said, adding “the damage is very minor” all things being considered.
At a glance, Sperlie, who spoke with the Albertan while still at the scene shortly after it was cleared and the tow truck had left at around 3:30 p.m., said a downward water spout from the eavestrough had been crushed.
“It looks like the only thing that’s damaged on the building,” he said, later adding in response to a follow-up question that the force of the impact was not powerful enough to result in the vehicle’s airbags being deployed.
The vehicle was heading south on Centre Street when the driver for reasons not immediately known for certain crossed the solid centre line against on-coming traffic before striking the sidewalk’s steep curb and then side-swiping the building and coming to a stop, he said.
“As [the vehicle] hit the sidewalk, it blew the left front tire,” he added.
Police do not believe the driver was under the influence.
“We’ve ruled out alcohol as being a factor,” said Sperlie.
“It would appear that medical may have been an issue,” he said. “The person was conscious and talking when we got here [but] had no recollection of the actual incident.”
EMS attended the scene and transported the male to hospital for observation.
“They were a little foggy about what happened but appeared to be in good health,” he said.
No other motorists were involved, confirmed the sergeant.
However, passersby on foot might have got lucky.
“There were pedestrians on the sidewalk that were in close proximity, but nobody was hit,” he said.
The sergeant did not expect that any charges would be laid.
