Part Of Hwy 401 Closed After Fatal Overnight Crash
Posted November 15, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A fiery crash on Highway 401 left a man dead and closed off part of the highway for the morning rush hour.
The Ontario Provincial Police are investigating the deadly collision, which occurred on the busy highway near Pickering. Emergency crews were called out to the eastbound collector lanes near Brock Rd. at about 3am Thursday.
When they arrived they found that a vehicle had apparently lost control and then rolled several times before coming to a stop and catching fire.
The motorist was pronounced dead at the scene. It’s unclear at this point what precipitated the crash, but OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley suggested speed might be a factor.
“(The car was) pretty much destroyed by the collision and fire. Apparently at 3am this vehicle was seen at a high rate of speed. It left the road and went back across the highway and slammed into the guide rail on the left side, then overturned,” he described. “The driver apparently un-seatbelted. A young man was ejected and pronounced dead at the scene by the coroner.”
It took several hours, but the 401 eastbound collectors finally reopened just after the morning rush ended.
The closure prompted some dangerous, not to mention illegal, driving manoeuvres from other motorists trying to avoid the gridlock. Some backed up on the Port Union Rd. onramp, while others U-turned onto it from the highway, driving in the wrong direction to do so.
“It was well marked on overhead signs, information was available. Anyone setting out would know that this was going on. We had those usual selfish motorists that did the dangerous and foolish thing of either reversing on the highway or some so bold as to actually do a U-turn and go the wrong way.”
A police cruiser eventually pulled over sideways on the ramp to block it and halt the illegal activity.
