Outdoors

Driver stops to let squirrel pass, causes multi-vehicle crash

Close-up of a brown and grey squirrel holding an acorn in a pile of red leaves. Photo by Jungle Bandana/Shutterstock

A B.C. driver caused a four-car crash this past Tuesday when he stopped to let a squirrel dash across two lanes of traffic on a Nanaimo highway. The 53-year-old was rear-ended by a commercial food truck and two pickups, one of which was so damaged it had to be towed away.

The crash, which happened around 8:30 am, caused delays when the highway had to be closed to be cleared of debris.

RCMP warned that braking on highways where speeds can exceed 100 km/h is dangerous and can lead to collisions. Last December a Quebec woman was sentenced to 90 days in jail after causing two deaths when she pulled over to help ducks cross a rural highway outside of Montreal.

Paramedics in Nanaimo determined that none of the drivers needed to be taken to the hospital and the squirrel did in fact survive.

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