AJAX, Ont. -- A 22-year-old woman was rushed to hospital with hypothermia after police say her car smashed through a fence, drove over train tracks and hit a pole before it was abandoned in Ajax, east of Toronto.
Durham regional police responded to the scene early Wednesday after a driver on Highway 401 spotted a vehicle in a ditch near the railway tracks (west of Westney Road).
Officers found the vehicle abandoned, with its airbags deployed, and determined it had crashed through a metal gate at a dead end (on Squires Beach Road) crossed three railway tracks and struck the pole.
With temperatures around -15 C, police began scouring the area for any occupants of the car and trains were stopped while they searched.
A canine unit was called in and a woman police determined to be the sole occupant of the car was found huddled under a bush about 500 metres from the vehicle, suffering from exposure to the cold.
She was transported to a local hospital where she was treated for injuries and hypothermia. Police say they believe alcohol was a factor in the crash.
