Double hit and run injures woman, nearly causes head-on crash along South Shore

A double hit and run late Sunday that left a pedestrian badly bruised and cut near Port Mouton, N.S., could have been much worse, said the general manager of the resort where the injured woman works.

RCMP in Queen's County continued to search Tuesday for the driver of a vehicle suspected of sideswiping the woman before hitting an oncoming car and fleeing the scene outside the Quarterdeck Resort on Highway 3 just before 10 p.m.

"It kind of clipped her [the pedestrian] on the side and kind of lifted her up in the air and took her down that way, so it was good that it wasn't straight on," said Tammy Brown, the resort's general manager.

She said her employee was treated in hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, including a broken nose, two black eyes and road rash along the side of her body. She has since been released.

"Her forehead was split open," said Brown. "She was beat up pretty bad. It hit her good."

'That one would've been a lot worse'

Brown said the vehicle would have then crashed head-on into an oncoming Honda Civic, were it not for the quick reflexes of the other driver.

"That one would've been a lot worse, as well. It would've been a head-on had she not swerved to get out of the way," she said.

The Civic driver, who was unhurt, was able to help the injured pedestrian to the Quarterdeck where medical personnel and police were called. 

Brown said weather conditions were clear at the time of the incidents.

Driver possibly unaware pedestrian hit

It's possible the driver may not have even realized the woman was struck, said RCMP Cpl. Robert Frizzell, but "without a doubt, that second vehicle collision, the operator would have most definitely known that they had struck that car." 

The collision caused damage all along the driver's side of the Civic, he said.

Frizzell said police are working on the assumption the vehicle that injured the pedestrian also struck the car "in very short order, mostly due to the close proximity of the two events."

Police have a limited description of the suspect vehicle, which was last seen headed southwest toward Port Mouton. It's believed it was a black or dark-coloured vehicle —  most likely a car. The make and model are unknown. 

Officers are canvassing the area and reviewing surveillance video for leads, said Frizzell.

He said anyone who saw someone driving erratically Sunday or has seen a vehicle with fresh damage to the driver's side — either the quarter panel, the side mirror or the door — to call police or Crime Stoppers.

Petition to reduce speed limit

Meanwhile, staff at the Quarterdeck Resort are banding together to support their injured colleague, who remained off work as of Tuesday.

The woman is a single mother of a teenager, said Brown, who was still reeling from the incident.

"To have somebody be so callous ... it's shocking," she said.

Resort staff have also started a petition calling for the speed limit to be lowered on the twisting, 60 km/h road that hugs the coast. 

"People need to be a little more aware that this is a resort and there are vacationers as well as employees that are walking close to the roadways on the shoulder because there is no sidewalk," said Brown.