This car went into the water when it swerved to avoid an ATV near Trepassey. (CBC)

The elderly driver of an all-terrain vehicle involved in a serious crash on Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula last month now faces charges.

Police say the 71-year-old man was crossing the road on the ATV near Biscay Bay, near the community of Trepassey, when a car with two sisters inside swerved to avoid a collision and ended up submerged in a pond.

The woman driver managed to get out, but her passenger was trapped inside the sinking vehicle.

A man and woman visiting from Quebec who happened to be driving by rescued the unconscious woman and gave her CPR. She was revived and airlifted to hospital in St. John's.

RCMP Sgt. Mike Ouellette said the ATV driver is being charged with four breaches of the Highway Traffic Act: "Imprudent driving as to his actions on the ATV, no insurance on the ATV, driving an unregistered vehicle and driving while suspended under the Highway Traffic Act because he was provincially suspended by the registrar of motor vehicles at the time."

The woman who was trapped in the vehicle is still in hospital. Her sister said she is recovering well but still requires medical attention.