Truck driver wasn’t aware of pushing car onto Hwy. 401 shoulder: OPP
Posted January 14, 2020 2:27 pm.
Last Updated January 15, 2020 7:45 am.
The driver of the truck, which was seen in a video pushing a car onto the shoulder of Highway 401, claims he didn’t know what was going on.
The 12-second video of the incident — which the OPP said happened just before 2 p.m. on Monday — shows a large truck, which appears to be a stone slinger, pushing a four-door vehicle across two active lanes of the highway until the car hits the guardrail and settles on the shoulder.
As the vehicle hits the guardrail, the car’s brake lights go on and the large truck veers back into the live lane of traffic.
The impact of the car getting squeezed between the truck and the guard rail is enough to cause the car’s back bumper to fall off.
As the large truck pushes the vehicle onto the shoulder, a tractor-trailer following behind the truck changes lanes and appears to be headed towards the car.
It is not clear if there was any impact between the tractor-trailer and the vehicle.
“Officers were able to speak with both those drivers. Fortunately, no one was injured in that wild crash,” OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said on Wednesday.
“The driver of that truck claims he didn’t see what was happening in front of him as he was changing lanes and ended up pushing that car off the shoulder.”
OPP Const. Taylor Konkle said the driver remained at the scene.
“He told OPP that he was not aware that he had struck the car. He thought something had struck his tire. Passing motorists had signaled him about the car. He pulled over and stayed at the scene,” Konkle said.
Schmidt said charges have not been laid at this time since the investigation is ongoing.
Drivers identified in dash cam video of a crash where a truck was pushing a car to the shoulder on #Hwy401 https://t.co/J79L0s6iat
— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) January 15, 2020
