Driver has life-threatening injuries after Malahat crash, RCMP say

File photo. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

A driver suffered serious, life-threatening injuries in a crash on Vancouver Island’s Malahat Highway overnight, and the other driver involved may have been impaired, according to police.

The West Shore RCMP says officers responded to a collision between two vehicles—a 2000 Subaru Outback and a 2021 Cadillac SRX—on Highway 1 near Finlayson Arm Road just before 12:30 a.m. Friday.

“While the details surrounding the collision are still under investigation, the driver of the Cadillac was displaying signs and symptoms of suspected impairment, and an impaired driving investigation is underway,” Mounties wrote in a statement.

The driver of the Subaru was taken to hospital.

Collision analysts were called in and northbound lanes of the highway between West Shore Parkway and Aspen Road were closed for the investigation.

The route fully reopened just after 7 a.m.