A truck driver was critically injured in a collision on Highway 401 in Bowmanville Thursday morning, according to Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). The incident occurred in the westbound lanes at Liberty Street just before 9:30 a.m. OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt explained that two passenger vehicles were entering the highway when one got stuck in a snowbank, lost control, and slid across the ramp.
The other driver swerved around it, causing a tractor-trailer in the westbound lanes to lose control, crash into a guardrail, and become trapped against an overhead sign. The driver was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. All westbound lanes were closed, and one lane reopened by 3 p.m.
The crash occurred after a major winter storm dropped 15 to 26 centimeters of snow in southern Ontario. Since the storm, OPP has investigated over 100 crashes and 125 incidents of vehicles stuck in the snow.