County Road 17 was closed for several hours following a car accident which left a 72-year-old female driver dead east of Carmen Bergeron Street, mere meters from the Russell County OPP detachment, on Thursday afternoon.
Around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 26, the Russell County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Prescott-Russell Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and the Clarence-Rockland Fire Department (CRFD) responded to a collision on County Road 17 following reports of an eastbound passenger vehicle, a black Honda CR-V, striking a white pick-up truck from Greely Construction head-on heading in the opposite direction.
Images from the scene showed the severely damaged front of the pickup truck in the eastbound lane of County Road 17, with the driver side of the vehicle pressed against the guardrail along the Ottawa River, airbags deployed. With its airbags also deployed, the Honda was on the opposite side of the guardrail facing westbound with the front driver side wheel on top of the barrier.
The 72-year-old female driver of the passenger vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene, and the 27-year-old driver of the pickup truck was transported to hospital by EMS with non-life-threatening injuries.
Blake Christie, health and safety representative for Greely Construction, said the driver suffered a concussion and was off work. Christie also acknowledged that the employee’s mental health as a result of the accident was also a concern.
“It’s not an easy thing to deal with,” he said. “But we are glad he is doing okay.”
The investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing with assistance from the Technical Collision Investigators (TCI) and Reconstructionist, according to the OPP.
