The driver of a flatbed truck is dead after the load of stone and contruction material he was carrying crushed the cab of his transport truck on Highway 400 just north of Highway 88 at about 11:30 a.m. today (Wednesday).
The northbound lanes of the highway remained closed at 3:25 p.m. as the result of the crash and could stay that way until about 7 p.m. according to police.
The accident happened when the driver of the flatbed came up behind another slow moving truck travelling north in the outside lane of the highway with its flashers on. For some reason the flatbed driver didn't notice the slower moving vehicle until the last second, then slammed on his brakes and ran into the back of it. Both the braking and the impact caused the construction material to shift and slid forward, crushing the cab of the truck.
Another transport traveling in the centre lane of the highway then clipped the back corner of the flatbed as it jackknifed, sending the rig into the ditch where it ended up on its side. The impact ripped open the side of the trailer on the third truck.
Debris from the flatbed and the load was spilled across all northbound lanes of the highway and one southbound lane. Other vehicles received minor damage as the hit the rocks and steel that littered the highway.
The driver of the flatbed was pronounced dead on the scene and emergency personnel and firefighters from Bradford West Gwillimbury were still working to remove the body at 3 p.m.
The driver of the third truck received a cut to his arm. The driver of the slow moving truck wasn't injured.
"Why he didn't see the truck I don't know," said OPP media relations Const. Dave Woodford at the scene of the crash. "It's because people don't pay attention to what they're doing when they're driving."
Randy Frampton was working in a shop on a property that backs onto the 400 when the crash occurred. He said he heard the noise of the impact, looked out the window ran to the scene.
He said he could see one of the truck driver's hands through the debris and wreckage and it wasn't moving, so he knew he didn't make it.
"It looked the whole compartment collapses from the load of the brick," he said referring to the large, flat landscaping stones the truck was carrying. "People drive fast and nobody pays attention," he said, adding that it's not the first time he has seen a crash along the stretch of highway.
It was along this same section of Hwy. 400 that truck driver David Virgoe of Innisfil was killed June 18 of last year when his rig was clipped by a street racer and he swerved and rolled in the ditch trying to avoid hitting other motorists.
Just yesterday, 20-year-old Nauman Nusrat, one of the street racers responsible was handed a sentence of two years' house arrest, a lifetime driving ban in Canada, a fine of $250 and was ordered to surrender his vehicle to the prosecution.
There's no word on the identity of the truck driver killed in today's crash.
While one southbound lane on Hwy. 400 remains closed, traffic is moving well in the other two although slowly as drivers brake to take a look at the wreckage.
The Highway 89 southbound ramp to Highway 400 is open and was never closed as reported in radio accounts of the crash.
As of 6:50 p.m. Wednesday, all lanes north and southbound, had been reopened to traffic.
