A visitor to the Tobermory area ended up in the city's Little Tub Harbour after accidentally driving down the boat launch, shown in a handout photo. Provincial police say the 23-year-Kitchener woman was following her GPS in rainy and foggy conditions at about midnight last night when the accident happened. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Ontario Provincial Police MANDATORY CREDIT
Republished May 13, 2016 - 6:49 PM
Original Publication Date May 13, 2016 - 9:20 AM
Police say following the instructions from a GPS on a foggy night left an Ontario woman taking an unplanned swim in Georgian Bay.
The 23-year-old woman from Kitchener, Ont., was following a route on her car's GPS while driving in the dark on Thursday night in Tobermory, Ont., according to provincial police.
Const. Katrina Rubinstein-Gilbert said driving conditions were difficult as the woman approached a boat launch on Little Tub Harbour near midnight, with rain and fog making visibility difficult.
As a result, Rubinstein-Gilbert said the woman made a wrong turn with dramatic consequences.
"How the launch works, it's not an airborne thing. It's not 'Dukes of Hazzard.' It kind of goes off the road and the launch just drops all of a sudden," she said. "So she would have been driving on the road, and then all of a sudden just dropped and hit water."
Rubinstein-Gilbert said the car stayed afloat long enough for the woman to roll down the window, grab her purse and swim about 30 metres to shore. Once there, she walked to the nearest hotel and summoned police, she said.
The car, meanwhile, sank completely, prompting the Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Trenton, Ont., to issue a broadcast instructing boats not to approach that launch for fear of being damaged by the submerged vehicle.
The Ministry of the Environment and members of RCC Trenton were notified. The Toyota Yaris was taken out of the water on Friday morning.
Speaking through provincial police, the driver of the car declined all media requests.
Rubinstein-Gilbert said she escaped without any injuries and did not even suffer hypothermia from her dip in the four-degree-Celsius water.
"She's in really good spirits," she said. "Of course a little embarrassed, but taking it all in stride."
Rubinstein-Gilbert said alcohol was "absolutely not" a factor in the incident. No charges are pending.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2016