A confrontation on the backroads south of Nanaimo this weekend ended with a hit and run that sent a man to the hospital.
Troy Jardine was enjoying an evening ride on his scooter on Sept. 3 while on a camping trip with his family, when he came across a man in a silver SUV who ran him off the road.
“I kind of skidded to a stop in the weeds and dirt and I just laid the bike down because I have very limited strength in my legs,” he said. “No big deal, I wasn’t hurt. The guy just totally blew by me at excessive speed and ran me off the road.”
Later in the evening he saw the vehicle again and confronted the driver and cursed at him.
“I rode up to his driver’s window and then I shouted at the guy. I said, ‘hey … you ran me off the road; what’s your problem?'”
He said the man, who appeared to be in his mid-20s with short hair and a small brown beard, began swearing back — saying he only passed Jardine and didn’t run him off the road.
Jardine said he stepped off his scooter and took off his helmet after the man said he would get out of the SUV. He put the scooter on its kickstand and the driver took off.
“He floored it, spitting rocks at me and the boys and then he drove approximately 50-75 feet forward, did a u-turn and drove straight at me,” Jardine said.
“The vehicle hit me in my legs and groin area and I remember looking at the driver as I bounced off the windshield and the two boys told me that I did a couple of flips in the air and landed on the ground about four feet away.”
Jardine said he could not move out of the way fast enough because of an injury he sustained three years ago, which changed his life and limited his mobility.
“I refer to my scooter as my wheelchair because that’s exactly what it has been the last three years. I can only walk short distances.”
Jardine said he got up almost immediately and yelled to a couple of people nearby to get the vehicle’s licence plate number.
“I was a concerned dad and like any person would do, I confronted the guy because over the years we noticed the Rondalyn, Timberlands riding area getting completely nuts and it’s totally unsafe,” Jardine said.
Jardine said he spent a few hours at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital and was lucky he did not have any broken bones.
Ladysmith RCMP said it is seeking witnesses to help find the driver and his passenger.
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