Car nearly collides with N.S. RCMP vehicle, crashes into ditch; driver suffers life-threatening injuries

The RCMP logo is seen outside Royal Canadian Mounted Police "E" Division Headquarters, in Surrey, B.C., on Friday April 13, 2018. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyc)

A man is in hospital with serious injuries after nearly driving into a police car and crashing into a ditch, according to a Nova Scotia RCMP news release.

After responding to a complaint in Noel, N.S., RCMP officers, who were travelling in two vehicles, were driving along Highway 354 in Kennetcook, N.S., around 1 a.m. on Aug. 5.

According to the release, a black car, driving in the opposite direction of the officers, crossed the centre line and nearly collided with the first police car.

The RCMP officer managed to avoid colliding with the car and then called over the radio to warn the second officer.

Police say the black car passed the second officer and continued down the highway.

As both officers turned their vehicles around, police say the black car left the road and crashed into a ditch.

The officers drove to the crash site and found the driver, a 41-year-old Noel man, and a passenger, a 38-year-old Lower Sackville woman, inside the black car.

The woman was uninjured, but police say the man was bleeding heavily and had life-threatening injuries.

The officers called for an ambulance and applied a tourniquet on the man to stop the bleeding. Police say they continued to give first-aid to the man until paramedics arrived.

The man was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Halifax.

The RCMP says the man would have likely died from his injuries had he not received first aid at the scene.

According to the news release, the RCMP officers noticed the man had displayed signs of impairment after the crash. Police say an investigation related to impaired driving is ongoing.