A portion Highway 401’s westbound collectors lanes near Highway 400 was closed for about an hour after a three-vehicle collision resulted in a person being taken to hospital with critical injuries.
Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said that officers responded to reports of a pedestrian struck on Highway 401 around 12:30 p.m. Friday. A man was found trapped between two vehicles.
“What we believe happened here is that the white Mercedes was stopped in a live lane, in the middle lane,” Schmidt said on Periscope. “Apparently the vehicle was stopped and was trying to exit.”
Schmidt said that while the vehicle was stopped, another vehicle collided with it. The driver of the white Mercedes got out of his vehicle and was speaking with the other driver when a third vehicle struck one of the cars, pushing it into one of the people.
The victim, who Schmidt said was a male, was taken to a trauma centre with serious injuries.
Another person was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
The westbound collectors lanes on Highway 401 was closed until about 2 p.m.
“We have our collision reconstruction team on scene doing their work. It could take several hours until everything is collected from the scene,” he said.
Schmidt also reminded the public not to stop in the middle of the highway in the event of a collision, saying that if your vehicle is “even slightly drivable”, drivers should get off the road.
“Don’t exit your vehicle until you are in a safe location,” he said. “Fortunately, it is not a fatality.”
