Motorcyclist Dies In Gardiner Crash
Posted October 4, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The same week that police marked the one-year anniversary of street-racing laws, the need for speed has claimed another life on Toronto’s roads.
A 39-year-old motorcyclist died Friday following a high-speed collision on the Gardiner.
Police allege that the man was coming on to the eastbound Expressway at the South Kingsway.
“We believe he was accelerating to a rather high rate of speed in the accelerator lane,” describes Sgt Tim Burrows of Traffic Services.
In a terrible coincidence, there was a broken down car in that same lane. The motorcyclist didn’t see it, cops say, and drove right into the back of the stalled vehicle.
“As a result of the initial impact, he landed on the roadway,” Burrows adds.
“He was subsequently run over by a vehicle that was travelling in the curb lane.”
The bike was found more than 90 metres from the body. Police think the victim was killed by the initial impact, and was already deceased when he was hit by the other vehicle. However, that has yet to be confirmed by an autopsy.
Police suspect that alcohol was also a factor in the collision.
The major route was shut down for several hours as reconstruction teams and other officers tried to determine exactly what happened.
In an incident police say just proves the prevalence of intoxicated drivers on our roads, another man was arrested at the same crime scene.
As cops worked in the closed-off area, another motorist drove right on to the scene. Officers allege the out-of-bounds driver pulled right up alongside them, then stopped to ask what was going on.
It was an unusual event, so they took a closer look at the man. It was enough to arrest him on suspicion of drunk-driving.
“In a closed scene, you don’t expect to have to deal with a car driving through it,” Burrows pointed out.
The Gardiner finally reopened just before 6am.
First Anniversary Of Street Racing Law
