The westbound lanes of Highway 401 in Milton have reopened after as many as 20 vehicles, including at least seven tractor trailers, collided on Wednesday.
OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said officers were called to the area over the noon hour for a large pileup.
Images from the scene show a jackknifed tractor-trailer and a silver sedan with its trunk shorn off.
“I had stopped completely and in my rear view mirror I saw a transport truck coming for me and I thought he couldn’t stop so I tried to get out of the way,” Max Pankiw, a motorist caught in the crash, said. “He hit me and I got sandwiched in between two other cars and to the left of me, I looked and another transport truck was coming and he hit me after that.”
Schmidt said there were several reports of motorists suffering minor injuries in the collision.
“When you are dealing with winter weather, and there was blowing snow at the time, that may have played a part in the collision, but again, poor roads and poor weather conditions don’t cause crashes,” Schmidt said. “It’s drivers driving poorly in those conditions.”
The lanes were reopened by the evening commute.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
