Simcoe County ambulance and car collide head-on after vehicle crosses centre line (update)

10:08 a.m. update:

Police say Highway Traffic Act charges against the driver of the car are pending. 

The 21-year-old woman's injuries were not ife threatening, say South Simcoe Police.

The paramedics involved were checked out at the hospital and released.

2:11 a.m. original story:

Two Simcoe County paramedics injured in a head-on crash on Highway 11 Tuesday night got out of their damaged ambulance and helped the seriously injured driver in the car that hit them.

They were then transported to hospital, along with a student paramedic who was riding with them in the ambulance.

South Simcoe Police closed the highway for several hours between Innisfil Beach Road and the 7th Line at about 9:45 p.m., as they investigated the collision between a car and an ambulance.

A 21-year-old Innisfil woman was taken to Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre with serious injuries including a broken arm and a concussion.

"She's lucky," said South Simcoe Police Constable Rich Williamson.

"Seatbelts and airbags, when used properly, will save your life almost every time," said South Simcoe Police Constable Rich Williamson.

He called the crash "a perfect advertisement for seatbelts."

"That's what saved her. If she hadn't been wearing her seatbelt, she'd be dead."

The woman was driving northbound on Highway 11, just north of the 7th Line of Innisfil, when she lost control of her vehicle and crossed into the southbound lane in front of the ambulance.

"We're not sure what exactly happened to make her lose control, but it was pretty slippery out here tonight," Williamson said.

The car was pushed about a hundred metres down the road and the ambulance landed upright in the ditch.

"It looks like it was the passenger side that took the brunt of it," Williamson said, pointing at the wreckage. "That helped her. The car was really destroyed, but that's where all the energy from the impact went . . . and she'll be fine."

Two paramedics and a student aboard the ambulance have also been transported to hospital for treatment and a second ambulance crew was dispatched to the emergency call.

"They were taken to hospital as a precaution, but they're ok," Williamson said.

The ambulance crew was responding to an emergency call with the lights and siren activated at the time of the collision.

Innisfil Fire and Rescue were called to extricate the driver from the wreckage.

Weather and speed are being considered as factors in the crash and the roadway was reopened at about 2 a.m.

Traffic investigators are now on scene and the road is expected to remain closed indefinitely.

"I don't understand why anybody would choose not to wear a seatbelt," Williamson said. "I see a lot of crashes and seatbelts save lives."