A London man can credit his seatbelt for surviving a crash that flipped his SUV and sent it careening up Adelaide St. on its roof for several metres Thursday.
Other drivers on the busy street can thank a bit of luck the SUV hit no one on as it slid up the street.
“It was wild. I thought that guy was doomed,” Jim Manicom, working at D&L Tires said.
Manicom said he looked out the garage bay doors on Adelaide after heard a scraping sound on the road.
“We looked over and this guy was just flying on his hood. Unbelievable.”
Police on the scene said it appeared a red pickup truck was pulling out of a lot on the east side of Adelaide and clipped an SUV heading north.
The SUV ended up on its roof a few metres south of Nelson St. in the southbound lanes of Adelaide.
Manicom figures the SUV travelled a good 60 metres on its roof. He and boss Andrew Angus ran out. With them was a friend and London firefighter Chris Rennie.
The elderly driver was speaking and coherent, the three men said. Rennie held the man’s neck until paramedics on duty arrived.
A London man can credit his seatbelt for surviving a crash that flipped his SUV and sent it careening up Adelaide St. on its roof for several metres Thursday. (Photo: London Free Press)
Firefighters took off the doors of the van to pull the wedged man out, so efficiently onlookers gave them a round of applause.
The driver appeared to be conscious as he was taken to an ambulance.
“He’s very lucky to be wearing his seatbelt. That’s an accident that could go from an observation at the hospital to some very serious injuries had he not been wearing his seatbelt,” London police Sgt. Jeff Addley said.
The driver of the pickup truck was also taken to hospital as a precaution. It did not appear either suffered serious injuries, Addley said.
