Semi-truck smashes into parked cars on residential neighbourhood

One residential street in midtown Toronto was the scene of a freak accident earlier this month, with a driverless semi-truck smashing into a number of parked vehicles.

The crash happened on July 9 in a residential neighbourhood near Yonge Street and Lawrence Avenue. 

Michael Jaques is a student and was working from home. He noticed something was wrong when his neighbour frantically started ringing his doorbell.

“I went down and looked outside, just couldn’t see my Jeep and I saw a big semi-truck in its place,” said Jaques.

The semi-truck rammed right into Michael’s Jeep Wrangler and three other vehicles. 

“I looked down across the street and just over here outside my house. I looked down, and I saw my Jeep was pinned and inside my neighbour’s driveway,” said Jaques.

The truck had been parked up the street and, somehow, rolled right into the parked cars. 

‘Luckily, my car had been lodged into their driveway in between their vehicles and the semi-truck, and that kind of saved it from rolling down the incline because it’d get going pretty quick,” said Jaques.

Residents noticed no one was behind the wheel of the semi-truck and immediately started wondering where the driver was.

“The owner of the semi-truck came out and asked me if this was my vehicle, and I was like, ‘Yes, what happened?’ He told me he had gone to use the washroom, just over on the other street, and he must not have put it in park, and unfortunately, it had rolled down and hit three of our vehicles,” said Jaques.

The semi-truck driver was apparently making a delivery of soil. Michael’s truck took the brunt of the impact. Miraculously, there was not a lot of damage considering the situation. The other vehicles, though, couldn’t be salvaged.

“My vehicle’s being fixed currently. My Jeep has minimal damage. Unfortunately, my neighbours’ cars that were directly behind mine that got hit are written off,” said Jaques.

Luckily, there were also no injuries.

“I’m very glad that everyone was OK. Objects are repairable. People and families, that’s a huge expense, and I’m just very, very happy that everyone is OK,” said Jaques.

Michael said he understands that bigger vehicles have to make large deliveries in these kinds of residential areas, but he doesn’t think semis should be driving in these narrow streets.

“I don’t think they should be doing it on these big trucks. The streets are pretty small, and they’re always filled with construction, and streets are closed, and it’s hard for them to maneuver, so maybe they should use smaller trucks,” said Jaques.

Toronto Police Service officers were called to the scene, but it’s unclear if any charges will be laid.