Serious Accident Shuts Hwy 400 In Both Directions
Posted June 16, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A horrific accident on Highway 400 near Barrie has injured 11 people including a four-year-old child. According to authorities two cars were driving along the southbound lanes near Highway 88 at about 6:30pm Saturday when they collided, hit the guardrail, and then struck two other vehicles. Police contend the two cars in the initial crash were driving fast and making a lot of lane changes.
“Witnesses are telling us it was extremely high speed,” said Cst. Dave Woodford of the Ontario Provincial Police. “One of the cars started rolling and then it became a chain reaction.”
Investigators arrived at the scene to find debris strewn across the northbound lanes of the highway and a guardrail right through one of the vehicles, a Cadillac. There’s no word on whether street racing was involved. “Street racing usually involves people who know each other,” Woodford explained. “I don’t think there’s any connection between the two vehicles. They might have been travelling under a road rage kind of thing.”
Of the 11 people taken to hospital, two are said to be in serious condition including the male Cadillac driver and a passenger of one of the cars. Police say the child’s injuries aren’t life threatening. The 400 was shut down in both directions between Highways 88 and 89, and officials estimate it could be early Sunday before it reopens. That caused major traffic backups in the area, and vehicles were being rerouted around the affected spot. Officers aren’t saying yet whether charges might be laid.
Viewer Caleb Mitchell sent in this image of the crash to It’s Your Story. For other images sent in by Caleb, click on the gallery below.
