Car lands on Shuswap family's vehicles parked in driveway | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Car lands on Shuswap family's vehicles parked in driveway

Cheryl Chew and her family live on Golf Course Drive in the Shuswap community of Blind Bay. On Sunday, March 15, 2020, a car landed on the vehicles parked in the driveway.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED / Cheryl Chew

 A Shuswap family were enjoying a relaxing evening in when a car crashed into their property after launching from an icy snowbank.

Cheryl Chew says she and her family were enjoying a relaxing evening on Sunday, March 15, until around 9 p.m. when their house on Golf Course Drive in Blind Bay shook.

“My son was falling asleep with my husband on the couch and I was watching a show. When it happened, our house shook quite a bit and I heard a big bam, boom and it sounded like a meteor hit our house,” Chew says.

Chew rushed outside and found neighbours gathered around, staring at the sedan that was on top of the family's two vehicles.

“We have a 90-degree corner on our street right in front of our house… she didn't make the corner,” Chew says. “She hit the snowbank of ice and then you don't even see tire marks on our side of the snowbank because she flew into our trucks.”

Image Credit: SUBMITTED / Cheryl Chew

Chew recognizes that the situation could have been much more devastating, and is thankful no one was seriously injured. The driver and her passenger were mostly unharmed, although the driver was trapped as her door couldn’t open.

“Her boyfriend pulled her out through the other end… she seemed OK but she had a little bit of seatbelt burn mark on her collarbone,” Chew says.

In addition to the damage done to the cars, their house took a blow as well. An inspector will come in the next few days to assess structural damage.

“It pushed our truck six meters back into our garage, and so the pillar of our house on the left hand side is damaged, and our garage door is done,” Chew says.

The family has lived in that house on Golf Course Drive in Blind Bay for around three years and previous tenants saw a light post hit twice by drivers going too fast for the curve in the road.

“We don’t let our kids play too often in the front of the house.”

The community has asked the province to lower the speed limit on the street from 50 to 40 km/h, but Chew says the Ministry of Transportation denied the request and offered more signage instead. It has been almost two years since the signs were ordered, and Chew says it has not been put in place.

"Two additional speed signs were ordered for the maintenance contractor to purchase and install in May 2018 to confirm the 50km/h speed zone," a spokesperson from the Ministry of Transportation told iNFOnews.ca.

"Ministry staff will review Golf Course Drive speed signage to confirm all required speed zone related signage is currently in place."

— This story was updated at 4:57 p.m. Thursday, March 19, 2020 to add comment from the Ministry of Transportation.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Jenna Wheeler or call (250) 819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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