Hwy 402 Fatal Impact of Unprotected Overpass Pillar – Review of Evidence
Police and news media have not discussed the details of how a female driver was fatally injured when her SUV struck an unprotected pillar of an overpass on Highway 402 at Glendon Drive. The following discussion will provide some of those details.
It was reported that at eastbound SUV was travelling on Highway 402 at approximately 0200 hours this morning when it entered the median and struck an “overpass”. That description does not properly identify that an unprotected concrete pillar existed in the median and, because there was no safety barrier in front of it, the SUV struck the pillar and the driver was killed.
The photo below is a view looking along the eastbound lanes of Highway 402 approaching the Glendon Drive overpass. Note how there is a right curve that could cause vehicles to enter the centre median. This would necessitate the installation of a barrier to prevent an impact with the pillars of the overpass that are located in the middle of the median.
View along the eastbound lanes of Highway 402 approaching the Glendon Driver overpass. Note that there is a slight right curve and therefore, without paying attention a driver could allow a vehicle to drift into the centre median. This is why some form of barrier is needed prevent such a vehicle from moving into impact with the pillars of the overpass in the background.
The view below is closer to the point of impact. The SUV struck the middle of the three pillars in the background. In the foreground a tire mark can be seen on the gravel shoulder and this was caused by the tires of the SUV.
The eastbound SUV travelled off the paved surface and impacted the middle of the three pillars of the overpass. In the foreground a single tire mark from the SUV is visible on the gravel shoulder adjacent to the yellow hazard marker post. The point where the tire mark exited the pavement was about 40 metres from the point of impact.
Turning around, the view below is looking back such that the SUV would be coming toward the camera. The SUV would have travelled a substantial distance through the right curve before exiting the pavement and entering the median.
Looking back so the SUV is approaching the camera, we can see the tire mark, in the foreground, on the median shoulder.
As the SUV entered the median there as a rise in the earth just before the overpass. The underside of the made contact with the rise, producing a large gouge, and this caused the vehicle to be vaulted in the air as it approached the pillars of the overpass. In the photo below the gouge in the earth can be seen just before the pillars. Judging by the width of the gouge the SUV was likely leading with its front end rather than sliding sideways.
As the SUV travelled through the median there was a rise in the earth which caused the underside of the SUV to gouge and and become vaulted in the air.
As shown in the photo below, there are no visible tire marks on the earth on the approach toward the struck pillar. This indicates that, after gouging the earth the SUV continued to be airborne up to where it struck the middle pillar.
There are no tire marks visible in the earth in the distance approaching the struck pillar. This means that the SUV was airborne as it approached the struck pillar.
Markings on the side of the middle pillar were indicative of a sideswiping motion. This indicates that the SUV likely did not strike the pillar centrally. Although no photos were made available by either the police or the news media it is likely that the contact of the pillar was made with the left side of the vehicle and the contact likely extended over a large portion of that left side. The photo below shows that the bottom portion of the markings are black and form a crescent. This could relate to contact by the left front wheel of the SUV.
The sideswiping characteristics of the scrapes on the side of the struck pillar indicate that the SUV did not make a central contact but slid past the pillar during contact.
Support for the conclusion that the SUV was vaulted in the air before impacting the pillar can be seen in the photo below. An investigator, 5 feet 10 inches tall, is standing next to the struck pillar and the black markings from the striking tire of the SUV can be seen at about the investigator’s shoulder level.
Support for the conclusion that the SUV was vaulted in the air at impact can be seen by comparing the height of the contact on the pillar to the height of the investigator standing next to it.
The median at this location is about 22 metres wide. The location where the visible tire mark exited the paved surface was 40 metres from the struck pillar. This would mean that the SUV travelled at an approimate 15 degree angle. When drivers who fall asleep or suffer some kind of medical episode their vehicle drifts off a road at a shallow angle of about 2 to 4 degrees. The departure angle is also affected by the presence of a curve so that, one can imagine, as a curve becomes greater so does the departure angle. Thus the 15 degree departure is not unusual for the present circumstances.
After impact with the concrete pillar the SUV continued to be airborne and made first ground contact about 24 metres past the impacted pillar. This first ground contact can be seen in the photo below.
The first ground contact, after the pillar impact, is shown in this photo. The vehicle continued to tumble along the median further into the background.
The typical evidence of a vehicle’s final rest position was found about 70 metres past the pillar impact. The photo below shows the evidence created by the towing operators as they pulled the SUV out of the median where it had come to rest.
Evidence of towing operating about 70 metres past the pillar impact can be seen in this photo with the overpass visible in the background.
In review, one must question why this collision had to result in a fatality. Clearly if a guardrail had been placed somewhere in the 40 metre distance prior to the overpass it would likely have deflected the SUV away from the concrete pillar. Fitch barrels or other devices located near the pillars might also have helped but the Ministry of Transportation had to understand that the embankment located just before the pillars would likely vault any approaching vehicles over such devices and a correction in the profile of the earth would have been required. Either way, this location is not some local street with a low traffic volume and the Ministry should have recognized that, some form of protection was needed in front of the pillars so that this tragedy could be avoided.
Yet, we can review the manner in which this fatal collision has seen minimal publicity by the news media and the public has been left uninformed. When inadequate road safety conditions like these exist it is essential that the public be made aware of the situation. Up to now there has been no public discussion of this inadequate safety issue and we cannot know whether the police did not notify the news media, the news median did not bother to inquire, or whether both are implicated in this lack of proper reporting to the public. It raises concerns that, when police and road maintenance personnel are both paid by the Ontario government which would be a defendant in any civil action, that these two entities are the only ones who are aware of the safety problem and they have the opportunity to hide it. When Highways such as the 401 or 402 are shut down for a police investigation no one independent to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation is able to examine the collision evidence before it is altered. When important evidence, such as the lack of as barrier, is kept from the public’s knowledge it must raise the question whether this has been done on purpose.
Fatal Impact of Unprotected Overpass Pillar on Hwy 402 Near Glendon Drive
With a 2016 traffic volume of 21800 vehicles, why was the overpass pillar on Highway 402 at Glendon Drive not protected by a barrier when its impact resulted in a fatality earlier this morning?
It is being reported that at approximately 0200 hours this morning an eastbound SUV struck the “overpass” at Glendon Drive. While no other details are presently available a quick glance at the site using GoogleMaps shows the two views shown below.
Eastbound view on Highway 402 approaching the Glendon Drive overpass.
Whether by barrels or guardrail or any other device, why were the concrete pillars of this Glendon Drive overpass left unprotected on Highway 402?
Clearly the concrete pillars of the Glendon Drive overpass are not protected from impact by wayward vehicles. It remains to be seen whether the fatal collision that occurred earlier this morning involved an impact to one of these pillars. But even if this did not happen, why are these pillars not protected by Fitch barrels, guardrail or any similar device?
Gentlemen, Start Your Computers!
Will your computer car become a thief?
The unnerving reality is that your new car is a computer on wheels. Do you have anti-virus protection?
A March 7, 2019 article by Jim Motavalli of the New York Times entitled “Locking More Than the Doors as Cars Become Computers on Wheels”, gives us an insight of what is now, and what is likely to come in the near future with automotive information systems and computers. One of the points made in the article is that an average car has over 250 million lines of computer code. It also informs that it is estimated that, in 2018, 330 million vehicles vehicles were connected to the internet and that number is likely to jump to 775 million by the year 2023. In 2015 a hacker was able to build a device for under $100 that could take control of any General Motors car using its OnStar communications system.
Automakers have been working hard at improving their cybersecurity but nothing is foolproof. As we advance forward cars will begin to communicate with each other and also with infrastructure existing along roadways. As these systems become more complicated the opportunity for problems to occur is increased. In the future of autonomous vehicles what has not been emphasized is that removing a human driver opens a pandora’s box with new challenges in determining how the vehicle functioned and whether it functioned as it should. The typical automotive technician will have no idea as those details will be within the propitiatory computers and modules of the manufacturers.
Yet, there are solutions.
For short range travel a simple device called a bicycle might help. Many alternatives to the typical bicycle can be incorporated including hybrid bikes that use small engines to increase travel distances and offer help to less athletic riders who are challenged by active transportation. It is not clear whether bicycles will also be required to be computerized in the future so as to communicate with cars, but nothing is on the horizon, yet.
In the meantime drivers need to consider how they will protect their privacy and personal identification in this wild west of evolving technology.
Do we Move On, Until the Next Highway 401 Fatality, No Better Informed?
A fire and two collisions, one involving a fatality, that occurred on Highway 401 near Chatham, Ontario on March 4, 2019, have now been given some scant publicity by local news agencies. The Chatham Daily News newspaper has been the most prominent and the London Free Press has also made mention of these incidents. But essentially nothing has been reported by the CTV News which informs a large sector of the public through its TV coverage throughout Canada.
A photo provided by the OPP shows the aftermath of a fatal rear end collision on Highway 401 west of Victoria Road on March 4, 2019.
Despite these mentions in the news media nothing of substance has been learned. Certainly the public knows that a truck caught fire somewhere east of Chatham. This prompted a shut down of the busy Highway 401. This eventually led to two collisions, one of them resulting in a fatality. That is about the extent of what is known.
It is important to examine why two major collisions occurred on Highway 401 after it was closed due to the truck fire. The information provided by police during this, and many previous similar incidents, is that drivers were not paying attention and this led to the two collisions. But no evidence was provided to support that conclusion. Someone may have discovered that a cell phone was being used in one of the vehicles, or something else that is specific. But we do not know. Very often investigators will simply make the observation that traffic ahead had stopped and, because the road is flat, and environmental conditions were reasonably good, drivers should have been able to see the traffic ahead. That could be the extent of the evidence. Reviews of past investigations have shown that this lack of depth in understanding and analysis is not uncommon.
A vast number of police officers do not have an in-depth education in human behaviour. So it is not uncommon for them to draw conclusions that appear to them to be common sense. Yet how and why humans perform like they do is far more complicated. What may appear to be common sense to the untrained investigator may be far from reality. This is vitally important because, in recent times, police are the only ones who gather the collision evidence and report their conclusions to the news media. There is no independent checking and balancing to make certain that whatever the police do or say is correct and accurate. Whenever we rely on a sole entity to perform a function without accountability, regardless of what it involves, our society suffers from that unhealthy monopoly. That fact has been proven many times over through history.
In fact there is a vast amount of research that has been carried out that could be helpful to investigators in determining whether a driver performed inappropriately or was simply performing in a way most humans do. But the proper application of those research findings requires that the collision be documented thoroughly for those factors that are important in the assessment. When an investigator is not properly trained he/she will not know what those important factors are that need to be considered.
Based on the limited facts, a truck caught fire around 1100 hours. This truck as located in the eastbound lanes of Highway 401, somewhere near Orford Road. Then, at approximately 1430 hours a fatal, rear-end collision occurred between two trucks, somewhere west of Victoria Road. There are interchanges at both Victoria and Orford Roads but no interchange between them. The distance between this two interchanges is about 7.5 kilometres as shown in the GoogleMaps image below.
A truck fire at 1100 hours at Orford Rd (Upper right) was followed by a fatal rear-end collision at 1430 hours at Victoria Rd (Lower left).
It would stand to reason that, if the eastbound lanes of the highway were closed, eastbound traffic would be diverted from the highway at the Victoria Road exit and this is near to where the fatal collision occurred.
The problem with such closures is that they are often not well announced with respect to signage and other warnings. Drivers are used to being informed for several kilometres ahead before such closures because a high percentage of such closures occur due to road construction which is planned for many months in advance. It is not uncommon to see signs of upcoming lane or highway closures for at least 5 kilometres in advance, or further. But when an unplanned incident such as a fire or collision require shutting down of the highway there is often not enough time or resources to place warnings like is done for pre-planned construction. When drivers see warnings well in advance of road or lane closures this develops an expectation that these warnings will exist whenever such closures occur. When those warnings unexpectedly do not exist a driver’s expectations are violated and a collision may occur.
Driver expectation is one of the key elements in road safety that need to be understood. As discussed in a detailed text by Dewar & Olson, 2007, entitled “Human Factors in Traffic Safety”:
“The term (Expectancy) refers to a predisposition on the part of persons to believe that things will be configured or happen in a certain way. Drivers operate with a set of expectancies. For example, freeway exits will be on the right side of the roadway…advance warning will be given of hazards on the road, and other drivers will obey traffic rules. If these expectations are violated there is an increase in driver perception-response time, more driver errors and increased potential for an accident. Therefore, information from traffic control devices, the roadway environment, and so on must be provided when and where it is expected. Advance warning signs, as one example, are intended to create in the driver the expectancy of a potential hazard on the road ahead.”
Police investigators also need to understand how typical drivers drive along Highway 401. Studies by Gorski Consulting in the fall of 2018 showed that, out of 532 vehicles observed travelling in the right lane, the average time gap between the rear of one vehicle and the front of a following one was about 6.3 seconds. However, in 98 instances, or about 18.4 percent, the time gap was less than 2 seconds. Many persons would comment that such “tailgating” is performed by the drivers of heavy trucks. However in our studies 58 of the 98 tailgaters, or over 59%, were drivers of light duty vehicles like passenger cars, SUVs, Pick-up trucks and vans. While police may say that this tailgating is a sign of drivers’ lack of judgment such comments are often made because there is a lack of knowledge about how traffic volumes relate to following distances.
For example, traffic volume data from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation show that, in the road segment between Orford and Victoria Roads, the volume (AADT) of traffic in 1988 was 15,100 vehicles. By the year 2016 that volume had risen to 23,000, or a 52% increase. This increased traffic volume can only mean that, at any local point, the number of vehicles has increased resulting in a lowing of the time gap between those vehicles.
At the same time the Ontario government instituted a law causing the limiting of maximum speeds of heavy trucks to about 105 km/h. It was believed that this would improve traffic safety. Yet no such governing occurred for light vehicles. The result is that, while today’s heavy trucks are travelling close to the maximum of 105 km/h, the rest of the traffic is travelling much faster. Data from our studies indicate average speeds of light duty vehicles in the median lane are in the range of 116 to 119 km/h. This leads to conflicts where the faster-moving, smaller vehicles attempt to pass the slower-moving, heavy trucks. During those conflicts the time gaps between the vehicles is greatly reduced. Studies by Gorski Consulting also show that heavy trucks have a propensity to wander and veer out of their travel lanes because of their wider width but also because environmental conditions such as wind have a greater effect on the large areas of truck trailers. Combined with the fact that drivers of heavy trucks have poor visibility of smaller vehicles around them it means that truck drivers must pay particular attention to their mirrors and lane position rather than to the road ahead.
These are just some of the facts that need to be considered, but the issue is even more complicated than that. This is why it requires some detailed knowledge and training to study collisions on Highway 401. Not only to make proper decisions about who was at fault but in identifying the root causes of collisions and how those factors might be changed.
A lack of publicity and information about crashes and other incidents such as what occurred on March 4th does not help to improve the situation. When the public remain uninformed of the important issues that may lead to their death they cannot apply the proper pressure to the system to make corrections. Indeed the direct opposite occurs. Without sufficient information members of the public make judgments and conclusions based on whatever scant information is available. They apply pressure to make adjustments to the roadway system that is not based on scientific fact. This could actually degrade safety rather than improve it. Yet there is nothing inherently important about maintaining the level of secrecy that currently exists other than to protect Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation from being found liable for deficiencies that may become publicly known.
The Godfather Returns?
The new government has been sworn in.
Why is it that we have this feeling about current politics of not waking up from some nightmare where the family of Don Vito Corleone has taken over?
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