Two Oliver teens were fortunate to escape unhurt after the SUV they were in plunged 100 feet down an embankment near Kaleden Saturday afternoon.
Police say the young women were travelling southbound on Highway 97 about 4 p.m. when the 2003 Ford Explorer lost control on a slippery section of road.
According to Chief Darlene Bailey of the Kaleden Volunteer Fire Department who was on the scene, the vehicle stopped partway down the hill after becoming jammed between some rocks and trees.
“She (the driver) knocked out two cement barriers on the east side the road and then somehow rolled over the top in some way, I don’t know how, and ended up stuck,” said the chief.
“If they hadn’t gotten wedged into those rocks and trees and were a little bit further to the north they would gone over the cliff side and down onto the KVR (Trail) so she really lucked out.”
Other than shock, the pair were not seriously hurt and were eventually pulled up the slope by rope by members of the volunteer department.
“Initially they were told to stay inside the vehicle and we were requested to determine if was stable, which we did — there was no way it was going anywhere — and we got them out,” said Bailey. “At the time it was snowing like the blazes and the road conditions were outrageous. It was just Mother Nature and it was happening so fast, it’s nobody’s fault the road was what it was.”
According to Sgt. Rick Dellebuur of the Penticton RCMP, investigating officers indicate the vehicle’s speed at the time of the accident was 80 kilometres, the posted limit.
There was extensive damage to the undercarriage of the SUV.