Driver unhurt after car hits deep ditch

The St. Thomas woman who was behind the wheel of a black Ford Escape walked away from her vehicle after it crashed into a deep ditch after swerving off of the pavement while travelling south on Springfield Road approaching Glencolin Line northeast of Aylmer on Thursday morning, July 23. This photo was taken at about 9 a.m. and the woman said she ran off of the road at about 8:30 a.m. An Elgin County Ontario Provincial Police officer arrived shortly after 9 a.m. The woman said she was driving home from the night shift her workplace in Tillsonburg when she briefly nodded off asleep. When she woke up not long later, she saw a white van directly in her path, hit the gas pedal instead of the brake and then swerved to the right to avoid hitting the the other vehicle. The van had stopped for the stop sign at the intersection. The woman’s car entered the densely vegetated ditch after narrowly avoiding hitting a railway crossing sign and another traffic-related sign along the side of road. She believed her Escape received damage to one of the front tires and the driver’s side mirror due to the crash. She said she had been wearing her seat belt, was uninjured but a little shaken up.