An 81-year-old woman has tragically died after a car accident in Northern Ontario, according to local sources. The Ontario Provincial Police, responsible for investigating fatal motor vehicle accidents, was on the scene on Highway 17 in Nairn Centre on the morning of Jan. 5. Another individual was injured in the crash, but is expected to survive. Police are still determining the cause of the accident.
Preliminary reports suggest the woman may have lost control of her vehicle while navigating the highway. Around 11:40 a.m. her vehicle left the road and struck a rock face. Emergency departments arrived on the scene and rushed her and her male passenger to a local hospital. She was later pronounced dead of her injuries.
A variety of emergency services responded to the crash, including the OPP Technical Collision Investigators, local fire departments and emergency medical services from Sudbury. The condition of the surviving passenger is unknown at this time, but his injuries have been described as non life-threatening. Police are continuing their investigation and hope to come to a determination of what caused the crash soon.
Fatal motor vehicle accidents involving elderly drivers can sometimes be attributed to a loss of faculties on the part of the driver, which may be the case here. Ontario authorities will have to determine whether the woman had existing medical conditions that should have precluded her from driving, or if any other factors played a role in the crash. Separately from this investigation, the injured man is entitled under provincial law to file a personal injury suit against the driver’s estate if negligence or wrongdoing on the driver’s part is established.
Source: northbaynipissing.com, “Elliot Lake senior killed in Highway 17 car accident”, Jack Tynan, Jan. 6, 2017
