THUNDER BAY — A city woman is calling for changes at a southside intersection after surviving a collision that left her hanging upside down in her overturned vehicle.
Kerry Barbini sustained an assortment of aches and scrapes, but her SUV is a write-off.
The collision with another SUV occurred around 6 a.m. Monday as she was driving home on Isabella Street and was passing through the intersection with Leland Avenue.
"It flipped my vehicle onto the roof, and I slid down the roadway before coming to a stop upside down," Barbini told TBnewswatch.
She feels she was extremely lucky to escape with abrasions, bruises, and a sore shoulder, back and ribs, because "in a split second, everything could have been over, just like that."
Thunder Bay Police have charged the other motorist with failing to obey a stop sign.
"That intersection is horrible," Barbini said in an interview Tuesday. "I think it needs to be looked at because I've heard from people that live there, people on Facebook, that there's numerous accidents there. People just running the stop sign. I mean, someone's going to be killed if they don't do something about it."
According to Thunder Bay Police records, this is the third reported collision at the intersection so far this year.
Barbini wants the city to consider making the intersection a four-way stop.
The collision has also left her an even stronger advocate for buckling up.
"I would like to reiterate the importance of wearing a seatbelt, because I'm pretty sure it saved my life," she said.
Barbini offered high praise for the work of the emergency responders who came to her aid.
"An off-duty paramedic was right on scene and talked to me while awaiting fire and rescue . . . asking me my name, how old I was, just trying to keep me [calm] because I was hysterical at that moment . . . The dispatcher also stayed on the line with me. Fire and rescue were there fast. They were all amazing."
She said she was upside down in the vehicle with her seatbelt on for about 15 minutes before she could be safely extricated.
"They wouldn't let me unbuckle my seatbelt in case I was injured, but they were amazing. The fireman kind of slid underneath me and undid my belt so that I would kind of fall onto him, and then they put me on a backboard and dragged me out of there quite quickly."
Barbini was taken to hospital for assessment including X-rays and a CT scan.
