from TheStar.com
Woman dragged beneath auto after SUV hit
Victim thrown from Honda
Lost control on snowy Yonge St.


MELISSA LEONG
STAFF REPORTER

A 23-year-old Richmond Hill woman was critically injured yesterday after a collision with an SUV caused her to be thrown from her Honda Civic, then struck and dragged by another car.

At about 9 a.m., the woman was driving her blue 2000 Honda Civic north on Yonge St., north of Stouffville Rd. in Richmond Hill, when she lost control of the car. The car slid sideways into the southbound lanes, hitting an oncoming Lexus SUV, police said.

The Honda's driver, who was not wearing her seatbelt, was then ejected from her car.

"She then is struck by a southbound Cadillac. She becomes lodged underneath the vehicle and pushed under the vehicle for some distance until the driver can get stopped," said Sergeant Brad Bulmer with the York Region Police traffic unit.

"Richmond Hill fire department had to lift the car off of her."

The Honda's driver was taken by air ambulance to Sunnybrook hospital with critical injuries.

"The blue car was going north and it lost control and swung over into our lanes," Mary Jane Brinkos, the driver of the Cadillac, told CFTO.

"And the other car hit it and then all the debris and smoke and everything ...

"I pulled over and I was just about to leave and somebody was yelling, `There's somebody under your car.'"

The Lexus was also clipped by a southbound pickup truck with a plow on the front. The woman driving the Lexus was taken to York Central Hospital with minor injuries. Brinkos and the driver of the pickup were unhurt.

Bulmer said snowy roads and the poor condition of the Honda's tires were both factors.

Police reported hundreds of accidents around the province, many due to the weather.

Two Newtonville-area residents were rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuriesafter their vehicles collided just east of Orono.

A 19-year-old, driving a Chevrolet pickup truck westbound on 6th Concession, collided with an eastbound Chevrolet driven by a 53-year-old man. The older man was taken to Lakeridge Health Oshawa, where he was listed in stable condition. The 19-year-old was taken to Lakeridge Bowmanville and later transferred to St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, where he was listed in critical condition.

In Vaughan, 65-year-old Rafail Poilicher of Richmond Hill died in a car accident on Rutherford Rd., east of Jane St., when he lost control of his green Cavalier, crossed the centre line and struck an eastbound garbage truck. The truck driver was not injured.

The Ontario Provincial Police closed Highway 11 from Barrie to Orillia from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. because of black ice. The OPP reported nearly 500 accidents in central Ontario.