Free loader: Man spotted riding on back of transport truck on QEW in Burlington
Posted March 8, 2023 11:14 am.
The OPP says an investigation is ongoing after a man was spotted riding on the back of a transport truck on the QEW in Burlington early Wednesday morning.
A video posted by the OPP’s Highway Safety Division shows a man in grey pants and a black jacket clinging to the back of the big rig as it drives on the westbound QEW near Burloak Drive just after midnight.
A passenger in a nearby vehicle recorded the incident and alerted the truck driver to the presence of the man.
“The driver of that car then motioned to the truck driver that there was something wrong, the driver pulled to the shoulder,” OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt explained.
Schmidt says as the truck driver grinded to a halt, the man “jumped off the back of the trailer and was last seen running up the ramp to Burloak Drive.”
Video of a person hanging on the back of a trailer driving on the #QEW/Burloak Drive. Male wearing grey pants and a black jacket jumped off the trailer as the truck driver stopped. March 8, 12am. #BurlingtonOPP investigating. pic.twitter.com/D3JoDDzCM9
— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) March 8, 2023
The truck driver later told police that he last stopped at a loading yard in Milton about a half-hour prior and didn’t know how or when the man hitched his free ride.
“Certainly a very dangerous behaviour, something that we don’t ever want to see and could cause serious injury or death if there was a collision or if he fell from the trailer,” Schmidt added.
