Crash near Fredericton closes TCH highway

Emergency personnel remove a trapped individual from a vehicle Monday afternoon on the Trans-Canada Highway near Fredericton. The driver of another vehicle was taken into police custody.

---

Source: The Daily Gleaner

Driver placed into custody by RCMP at scene

NEW BRUNSWICK - The male driver of a white, four-door Grand Prix was taken into RCMP custody Monday, as the police force began its investigation into a two-vehicle collision in the eastbound lane of the Trans-Canada Highway.

The crash occurred west of Fredericton between the Hanwell Road access to the highway and Mazerolle Settlement Road just after 4 p.m.

The eastbound lane of the highway was closed for just over one hour while police gathered evidence and had a wrecker remove a badly damaged dark green Toyota Echo.

The driver of the white Grand Prix was checked over by emergency medical technicians at the scene before police placed him in the back seat of a marked cruiser.

The man's vehicle left the eastbound lane of the four-lane highway, travelled across the steep slope of the grassy median and ended up in the ditch close to the westbound lane.

It came to rest in the ditch with its front end pointed toward oncoming westbound vehicles.

"He was conscious and attempting to get out of his car, but not doing a good job of it ... He was confused," said Terry Taylor, a passerby who stopped his pickup truck at the scene as he tried to render aid.

Taylor was travelling from Fredericton toward Mazerolle Settlement Road in the westbound lane when he saw the white car in the ditch.

Taylor said he used his cellphone to call 9-1-1.

Meantime, the driver of the Toyota Echo had to be extricated with the assistance of Fredericton firefighters. The back end of the car was badly damaged.

It's unclear if the driver was male or female, but the injured person was taken away from the crash site in an ambulance. There was no word Monday night on the condition of the individual taken to hospital.

Paul MacFarlane, who was stuck in a long line of traffic as the eastbound lane of the Trans-Canada Highway was closed, said he spoke with the female driver ahead of him who witnessed the collision.

MacFarlane said he was told by the witness that the Toyota Echo was parked at the side of the road.

The woman provided a statement to RCMP, but declined to speak with The Daily Gleaner at the scene.

RCMP Cpl. Jacques Cloutier said the investigation continues.