Ontario Premier Doug Ford unharmed after Highway 401 collision, 18-year-old driver charged

Ontario Premier Doug Ford was uninjured after an OPP vehicle he was travelling in was involved in a collision on Highway 401 Wednesday afternoon.

OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt confirmed to CTV News Toronto that the collision in question occurred at around 12:40 p.m. in the westbound lanes of Highway 401 at Brock Road in Pickering.

Police said the premier and the other occupants in the vehicle operated by the OPP Protective Services Section were not injured.

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Meanwhile, two people in the other vehicle were transported to the hospital with minor injuries and were later released.

In an update, police said that an 18-year-old from Oshawa was charged with dangerous driving as a result of the crash. He is scheduled to appear in an Oshawa court in February.

Speaking to reporters at Queen’s Park, Ford said that the vehicle he was travelling in was “sideswiped” after leaving the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, where he had held a press conference to pitch a new energy partnership with the U.S.

“Oh yeah, we were leaving OPG, driving down the road on the highway, and the next thing you know, out of nowhere, the car got sideswiped, and that is all I can say,” he said.

“But we were just driving straight, and next thing we know, we got hammered, just hammered. I am OK, this head is like limestone. It is as hard as a rock.”

Ford went on to say the driver that struck the vehicle he was travelling in “ended up on the other side of the highway.”

“It was bad. I just pray he was OK,” he said.

The spokesperson said that the driver of the other vehicle is believed to have sustained non-life-threatening injuries.