Salting Truck Dragging Car on Hwy 401 – What Does the Video Mean?
Before becoming outraged about this scene, the public should first understand the basic problems of visibility between car and truck drivers.
Social media outrage has clogged the internet upon the release of a short video showing a sanding truck pushing a car into a guardrail on Highway 401. Police reported they were not aware of the incident but since then they confirm that it occurred on January 13, 2020 near Bayview Ave in Toronto. Certainly police are correct in announcing that they need to obtain further information before considering what actually happened.
But isn’t it obvious what happened? Clearly the public sees 12 seconds of this monstrously large truck pushing the car as it is sideways at the truck’s front end. We already know exactly what happened. Or do we?
There are many reasons why short segments of video can be deceiving. Not much different from short segments of an event that is seen by an Incredible Eyewitness (read the writings of psychologist Elizabeth Loftus). At Gorski Consulting we often say that “Visibility is in the mind of the Beholder”.
Reports circulating in the media indicate that the driver of the salting truck was “unaware” of the car. Those wanting to lynch the driver cannot understand how the driver could not be aware of the car since the driver’s truck was pushing the car throughout the 12 seconds of video. What nonsense comes the cry, surely anyone should be able to detect that they are impacting another vehicle for at least 12 seconds. But let us examine this problem more technically.
The demonstration shown in the frame below was arranged by Gorski Consulting with respect to one of our older client files wherein a truck and car collision caused in the death of the car driver. The car and truck had been side-by-side at one point during the commencement of the incident. One can see that a black car has been placed next to the right front wheel of the truck in a manner where it was alleged that a minor contact occurred which sent the car into a counter-clockwise rotation, much like the video of the sanding truck.
In the next frame below we can see that the car is relatively close to the right front wheel of the truck.
In the next frame below we show the truck driver’s view toward the right front of his cab and toward the right side mirrors. This view is taken when the truck driver is seated in his seat and the black car is positioned in the same location as shown in the previous frames. It should be obvious that the car cannot be seen by the truck driver.
In the frame below, the photographer has stood up at the right front seat of the truck cab and the photo is taken looking down to the location of the black car which is still in the same position as it was in the previous frames. Now, a partial view of the car can be seen. But truck drivers do not drive while standing up in front of the right front seat of their cab.
This analysis was also conducted by placing the black car in front of the truck in the manner shown in the frame below. Again the car was not visible to the truck driver.
Other observations can be made from the frame shown below where two investigators are standing several metres in front of the subject truck. The visibility of those two pedestrians from the truck driver’s seat can be seen in the following frame.
As shown in the frame below, most of the pedestrians’ bodies are not visible. A typical male, standing about 5 feet 10 inches, or about 178 centimetres, is taller than a typical passenger car which is usually less than 150 centimetres tall. The bottom line is that a car positioned in the location of these pedestrians would not be seen by a truck driver seated in his seat.
In the actual investigation there was a claim by a witness that she saw the impact between the car left side of the car and the right front of the truck tractor. This scenario was reconstructed by placing a similar car at a similar distance behind the truck as shown below.
Inside the witness vehicle a camera was placed at the witness driver’s head similar to the video camera position shown in the frame below.
The witness view could then be recreated as shown in the “zoomed in” view shown below.
The witness could not see whether an impact occurred and she later admitted so just before she was supposed to testify at trial.
Never-the-less the truck driver received a guilty verdict and was sentenced to 4 years in jail for failing to remain at the scene of the collision. This occurred because there had been a second collision between the truck and the car after the car had rotated in front the truck and substantial damage occurred to the left side of the car from that second collision. Although the existence of the first impact was disputed due to lack of physical evidence, the existence of the second collision was beyond doubt as it was supported by the physical evidence. There was a great misunderstanding by the court that the truck driver must have been capable of detecting that second impact as there was substantial damage to the left side of the car and the truck driver must have been able to see the car sliding sideways because the car was directly in front of the truck. It became impossible to explain to the court that the severity of a substantial impact to a car might only be registered an a 1g deceleration to a very massive truck. With heavy braking and hard steering to avoid the sliding car, including the typical vibrations that exist in a truck cab, there could be substantial doubt in the mind of the truck driver that a collision had occurred if he was incapable of seeing the car in the last seconds before impact. Additional, explainable complications occurred which caused the truck driver to leave the collision site much like the driver of the sanding truck shown in the video.
This demonstration shows a typical problem with witness information. While many independent witnesses want to be helpful, and many are, too many times their information is unreliable and sometimes completely fabricated. When a death is involved there is an urgency to want to find someone at fault who can pay for the result, not necessarily to pay for the actions that they performed.
In the scenario of the video showing the sanding truck and the car it has been reported that there were no injuries and that both vehicles left the collision site without reporting it to police. But what if the car driver died? Would the driver of the sanding truck be charged with leaving the scene of a crime? Should he then receive a four year jail sentence?
There is a rush to judgment by many who, through their personal biases, want to see a result, such as punishment for some perceived wrongdoing, without wanting to consider alternative possibilities. We would want to feel assured that such prejudice exists in only the rare few. Regrettably that is not the case. Many persons in official positions who ought to know better and upon whom we rely to achieve a just result fail to keep their prejudices in check.
An elderly defense lawyer once told us that he disagreed with capital punishment, even though some persons deserved it. He disagreed with it because in far too many instances our justice system is incapable of differentiating between the truly guilty and the truly innocent. It is a painful result when a guilty person does not pay for their crime but it is even more painful when an innocent person’s life is destroyed because we did not conduct a fair trial of their actions, not the consequences that occurred.
Do We Ignore Speed Advisory Signs?
In 2009 Gorski Consulting created this roadway grid to explore the speeds and positioning of vehicles passing through a sharp curve.
Governments spend money to post various warning signs on highways but do drivers heed these warnings? It would seem to be a waste of money if these signs were ignored. Gorski Consulting has conducted testing that reveals some interesting results.
In 2009 Gorski Consulting conducted a series of videotaping sessions on a challenging S-curve of Clarke Road in the north-east of the City of London, Ontario. The figure shown above is taken from testing conducted on October 8, 2009. This figure shows how a grid of markers was set up on the pavement in the curve so that vehicle speeds and their position within the lane of the curve could be documented. At that time a speed advisory sign had been posted advising motorists that they should proceed through the curve at a speed of 60 km/h, as shown below.
In October of 2009 a speed advisory sign warned drivers that they should proceed through the S-curve of Clarke Road at a speed of 60 km/h.
Ten years later, in late September, 2019, the speed advisory sign was changed to lower the advised speed to 50 km/h, as shown in the figure below.
Would drivers take this advised speed reduction into account and lower their speeds?
An analysis of the average speed of vehicles passing through this curve was conducted based on the videotaping from 2009. Based on 70 northbound vehicles whose speeds were documented using multiple video camera technology the average speed was 75.2 km/h. 31.4 percent of these vehicles were found to be travelling at a speed of 80 km/h or higher. Thus 31.4 percent of drivers were travelling at 20 km/h or higher than the advised speed. Out of the 70 vehicles that were documented not a single driver was observed to be travelling at a speed of 60 km/h or less.
What sense is there to install these warning signs? Transportation officials in Ontario conduct similar speed documentations to what has been done by Gorski Consulting. Thus they are fully aware of these statistics.
Further multiple video camera documentation was conducted at this site in the autumn of 2019, or ten years after the results noted above. This documentation was completed a few weeks after the lowered advised speed was posted. This video is in the process of being analysed and the results will be made available shortly. What do you think the results will show?
Red Hill Valley Parkway Inquiry – Will Taxpayers Receive Official Standing?
The Red Hill Valley Parkway inquiry commencing in the City of Hamilton has the potential or addressing major shortcomings in municipal operations throughout Ontario. Alternatively it may become a vehicle for further secrecy. Time will tell.
The starter’s pistol has been fired into the proceedings of the Red Hill Valley Parkway fiasco that will plague the City of Hamilton for a number of years into the future. Presently officials are arguing over who can line up at the starting line, allowing them to give evidence at the inquiry later this fall. But who decides which entity gets disqualified even before the start of the race? If someone, agency or business wants to give testimony who decides that it won’t happen and will there be reasons given why some entities will not be allowed to participate? Will the entities that are refused participation be publicly identified?
The Commissioner of the Inquiry, Justice Herman J. Wilton-Siegel will make these decisions. Given the track record of of recent events surrounding politics at the City of Hamilton Justice Wilton-Siegel needs to recognize that the taxpayers of the City of Hamilton need to be given the greatest priority with respect to official standing at the inquiry. Matters such as access to documents for example cannot be hidden from the public and only provided to the select participants who have claimed official standing.
From a perception viewpoint the Red Hill Valley Parkway Inquiry is not off to a good start. The Terms of Reference of the Inquiry have been authored by the very entity, the City of Hamilton, who could be determined as guilty of hiding the Tradewinds Scientific Report that is the subject of the inquiry. While Hamilton’s City council claims that he did not know that the Tradewinds report existed one only needs to look at council’s recent track record to be concerned. It was Hamilton’s city councillors who did not tell the public about a sewage leak into the local Chedoke Creek – a leak that was going on for over four years. This occurred even after they knew that the Red Hill Valley Parkway fiasco was reaching the public. How trustworthy are city councillors in that they are allowed to write the rules as to how the inquiry into their actions will held?
As anyone who needs to pass by a sewage leak Hamilton taxpayers need to hold their noses and wait. Wait to see if someone with any integrity will make the Red Hill Valley Parkway Inquiry work as it should. At this point those participating in the inquiry had better recognize that any further mischief with respect to secrecy and hiding essential facts from the public may result in even greater consequences.
Windsor Bridge Completion & Complications From Expected Increase in Truck Traffic On Highway 401
Highway 401 in Southern Ontario is slated for widening between Tilbury and London from 4-lanes to 6-lanes. In a recent Windsor Star article Chatham-Kent-Leamington Provincial Parliament representative, MPP Rick Nicholls was quoted as saying ““My concern is that we need to have it done prior to the Gordie Howe (International) Bridge being built in Windsor because once that opens up, the amount of transport trucks on 401 is going to be huge.” The article also indicated that the Gordie Howe bridge is expected to be open for traffic in late 2024.
The general premise is that more lanes will result in more efficient passage of traffic and efficiency is a benefit to our society. But efficiency is not the only factor that is of importance. Reduction of safety problems that cause collisions is also important. Injuries and deaths are costly, not just in emotional terms, but in financial costs as well. The volume of heavy trucks currently moving through the area of Highway 401 between London and Tilbury on a regular weekday approaches 50% of all traffic. So how much additional, heavy truck volume does Mr. Nicholls, and the Province of Ontario, expect if the increase is supposed to be “huge”? Is Mr. Nicholls speaking with direct knowledge of what Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation expects? Or is this a personal belief?
An increase in highway safety problems could come with those extra lanes and trucks. Concrete median barriers may help to improve some aspects of the highway’s safety by preventing a collision or loss-of-control incident from becoming worse. But there needs to be better communication in general about the causes of collisions and loss-of-control incidents on Highway 401.
This is an area where the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) maintains control about what it knows. Some sensors exist along the full highway system that document data such as traffic volumes, size of vehicles and inter-vehicle gaps. But it is doubtful that such sensors could provide the essential details about how vehicles interact and what motions precede collison and loss-of-control events. Such details require a closer examination of traffic.
Junction boxes attached to magnetic coils imbedded in the pavement of Highway 401 are located near all entrances and exits to the highway and this provides some general information about the composition and flow of traffic.
Traffic cameras exist in heavier-populated areas in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and they can provide the essential details that cannot be obtained from current sensor installations. But only sparse installations exist along the corridor from London toward Windsor. Depending on the manner of installation details of traffic motions can be obtained from such cameras. Artificial intelligence can speed up the analysis. However it remains unknown what MTO does with the video and who has been given access to its vast data.
Police reconstructions of collisions on Highway 401 can provide some useful data about collision causation. However those evaluations are focused on the few seconds before a collision, and events during and after the collision, where physical evidence and vehicle-mounted event data recorders (EDRs) provide reasonably accurate details. However many collisions “begin” well before the creation of physical evidence and before the permanent storage of event data. And some factors, such as the motions of other, non-involved vehicles, are never documented by event data recorders.
It is known that near misses and minimal impacts lie at the very large base of the collision-data pyramid. Yet official collision databases provide no information about the characteristics of this events. Many believe that, because they involve minimal or no material consequence, they are of little importance. Others understand that their large numbers can provide insights into collision causation that may not be apparent in the smaller segment of serious-injury and fatal collisions. When these incidents are not officially documented they do not exist.
A damaged bumper to a private vehicle is, officially, irrelevant. Yet for the private owner who must pay for its repair the cost could be substantial if the owner has limited resources to pay. How many of these uncounted incidents exist is unknown, but they are likely to be vast. When official agencies develop policy from cost-benefit analysis these “small” hidden incidents are rarely added to the equation. As another example, the seemingly low cost of a High Tension Cable Barrier (HTCB) that has been installed along Highway 401 between Tilbury and London has to take into account the repetitive cost of work crews blocking travel lanes to make the repairs of a minor impact. The blockage of a travel lane causes disturbances in the traffic flow and the causation of more collisions. The collisions that occur during that lane blockage are not officially viewed as being caused by the HTCB installation but by the inattention and “stupidity” of drivers. Additionally the time delay when anchor posts from cable barriers lie damaged and ineffective before they are repaired means that the public’s safety is compromised. Striking a cable barrier whose cables are loose and unsupported can lead to unknown consequences as no research exists of those potential dangers.
In this complex mix of hidden data and poor communication the public is poorly served by those agencies using its taxes to release information that it sees fit without much accountability for their decisions. “Open Data” that is supposed to exist continues to be “Closed Data” for all practical purposes.
Gorski Consulting is a rare and small, independent, source of information that gathers data outside of the official agencies that maintain a monopoly on that process. With limited resources and no official funding Gorski Consulting has been able to conduct useful, though limited, research that is not controlled by any outside agency. Transfer of the results of that research into the public domain is limited by the agencies that use large public funds to support their own actions and policies, while suppressing independent views.
With respect to Highway 401 Gorski Consulting has be able to conduct a number of detailed studies that were discussed in several articles posted on the Gorski Consulting website in the fall of 2018. Multiple, synchronized, video cameras were placed in the vicinity of overpasses on Highway 401 and these methods have resulted in detailed documentations of vehicle volumes, speeds, passing motions, gaps, veering out of a lane, and other facts.
An example of multiple video cameras set up at 100 metre intervals in the ditch of Highway 401 in the fall of 2018. As vehicles pass each camera location the timing of their passage provides a measurement of their speed and other facts.
Some excerpts from several articles on the Gorski Consulting website relating to the research being conducted on Highway 401 are shown below.
December 27, 2018
Traffic volumes in the westbound lanes of Highway 401 were documented during five testing sessions in the fall of 2018. The following table provides an indication of the percentage of Class 8 (Tractor-trailers) and buses that have been documented during these sessions. The smaller percentages from December 2nd (Sunday) and November 23 (U.S. Thanksgiving) relate to holiday and weekend sessions where heavy vehicle traffic is much lower than during typical weekdays.
December 20, 2018
We have now discussed a number of issues relating to the safety of Highway 401 between Tilbury and London, Ontario. This length of highway is where the new High Tension Cable Median Barrier is being installed by the Ontario Ministry of Transport. In earlier posts we have shown how many large trucks drive through area. During weekdays the percentage of transport trucks may approach 50%. During weekends and holidays that percentage is less. We have also examined the difference in speed between trucks that are limited to a maximum of about 105 km/h and non-trucks that travel at an average speed of 116 to 119 km/h. And we have also presented data indicating that over 18% of drivers allow a gap of less than two seconds between the front of their vehicle and the rear of the vehicle they are following. These are some of the data that provide a glimpse of the safety problem on Highway 401.
December 20, 2018
An unintended veering out of a travel lane can be the cause of traffic disruptions that ultimately lead to a collision. Collision Reconstructionists who examine the post-collision evidence are rarely able to detect the physical evidence of such an action because, for the vast percentage of cases, no physical evidence exists.
To get a handle on how often such veering occurs Gorski Consulting has examined the videotaped observations of traffic from four sessions at three sites along Highway 401 in South-western Ontario. As mentioned in previous posts, these videotaping sessions were conducted this past fall using multiple video cameras over a period of 2 hours in each session.
December 20, 2018
As an independent, accident reconstruction and road safety business, Gorski Consulting has no special interest in the documenting of these incidents along Highway 401. Up to the present time we have not be retained by any involved party, municipality or the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to support or condemn the actions of any individual or organization. As a result our comments are completely free any special interest. While the future remains to be seen there are concerns that are beginning to reveal themselves of about the functioning of the HTCMB being installed along Highway 401 between Tilbury and London.
Most importantly it needs to be stressed that the OPP need to be involved in providing a detailed and unbiased documenting of those incidents where the HTCBM has been struck. While a single photo such as the one provided by the OPP can be helpful, it can also be deceiving. When evidence crucial to the understanding of the occurrences is not released the public develops a mislead understanding of these important events. If the documenting of these incidents is beyond the capability of the OPP another independent agency needs to become involved to make this information available to the general public.
December 16, 2018
We purposely focused on those vehicles that were following closely behind a leading vehicle. This can be considered to be unsafe because it may provide insufficient time to react to changing traffic conditions such as sudden slowing or stopping of traffic. The presence of large heavy trucks is a problem because they require a longer stopping distance but also because their large width and height makes it difficult for drivers following them to see the roadway ahead. We selected those observations where the time gap was 2.0 seconds or less and this is what is shown in the table.
As an example using the “Westminster Drive Oct 30th” data, of the 91 trucks that were observed in the right lane, 19 of those trucks were observed to be following a vehicle ahead by 2 seconds or less. Of the 46 “Non-Trucks”, 11 of those were observed to be following at 2 seconds or less. Thus, in terms of percentage, 20.9 percent of trucks were following a 2 seconds or less and 23.9 percent of non-trucks was following at 2 seconds or less. These percentages are shown for all four sessions below:
Westminster Drive Oct 30th: Trucks =20.9, Non-trucks= 23.9
Westminster Drive Dec 2nd: Trucks=14.1, Non-trucks=24.2
Graham Road: Trucks=15.9, Non-trucks=20.8
Dillon Road: Trucks=4.8, Non-trucks=16.2
We can also take all four sessions as a whole and indicate that of the 260 observations of heavy trucks 40, or 15.4 percent were observed to be following a vehicle at 2 seconds or less. For the 272 observations of non-trucks, 58, or 21.3 percent were observed to be following a vehicle at 2 seconds or less.
The issue of the safety of Canada’s busiest highway is an important one and requires objective data in order to reach proper conclusions. Yet very little of that objective data is available to the general public. It is ultimately the public that votes for their political representatives and produces the momentum toward change. When the public is provided with no meaningful information or is misinformed, the direction of change is not in a positive direction. By providing the public with meaningful objective data Gorski Consulting is meeting the need of the public for information it needs to provide informed opinions.
December 11, 2018
The presence of heavy trucks is likely to be one of the major factors in the highway’s collision history. As noted previously, truck traffic is limited to travel at a maximum of 105 km/h whereas the light vehicles travel much faster, about 116 to 118 km/h. This difference occurs even though the heavy trucks are slowing the other vehicles by “interfering” in their travel. While slowing these speeders may be a good thing it is also creating traffic conflicts that we need to consider.
November 21, 2018
Everyone understands that the official speed limit of 100 km/h is not the practical speed limit that is enforced. Observations suggest that the enforced speed limit may be something in the range of 120 km/h, but only the OPP know for sure. But what speed is being enforced within a construction zone? If the speed limit is 80 km/h do the OPP only charge drivers who are travelling at 100 km/h or higher? There would appear to be some confusion surrounding this point.
November 19, 2018
Observations by Gorski Consulting this fall have explored the speed and difference in speed of traffic along Highway 401 in southwestern Ontario. Observations by Gorski Consulting indicate that this expressway may carry anywhere between 42 and 48 percent of heavy truck traffic such as 18-wheeler tractor-trailers, truck trains and intercity buses. The Province of Ontario has created legislation that has reduced the maximum capable speed of heavy trucks to about 105 km/h. Observations by Gorski Consulting confirm that indeed almost all heavy trucks travel along Highway 401 at about 105 km/h. There is a conflict however when these large, slow-moving vehicles interact with much faster traffic that may be difficult for truck drivers to see and can accelerate out of blind spots into locations that truck drivers do not expect.
October 30, 2018
Construction, maintenance and policing activities become a problem when traffic volumes increase. Often lanes become closed for these activities and drivers must make adjustments in their speed and lane travel. Numerous collisions occur in construction zones when closed lanes cause drivers to change lanes or bring traffic to a halt. Many collisions occur when unsuspecting drivers approach the stopped traffic at highway speed but are too late in their detection that traffic is stopped. This is more problematic when heavy trucks are loaded with cargo but their braking systems make if difficult to stop as quickly as passenger cars and light trucks. Numerous problems like these require objective data in order to develop counter-measures that provide realistic solutions to the problem.
October 28, 2018
The difference in the numbers of observed speeders and what charges were laid outlines an obvious problem about the lack of enforcement of speed limits along Highway 401. The reality is that pulling vehicles over for a speeding violation along the Highway is a dangerous operation that could produce more harm because of the potential collisions that it can cause. While a “move over” law requires drivers to slow down and change lanes away from emergency vehicles the reality is that such changes in speed and direction are themselves the cause of collisions. In many instances speeding drivers cannot change lanes quickly enough because of factors such as visibility problems and traffic density. The sudden reduction in speed of vehicles causes speeding drivers to brake suddenly and cause problems for other speeding drivers around them. While it can be said that this is the fault of those speeders it never-the-less does not prevent the causation of serious consequences.
Overall Safety of Ontario’s Expressways Hides Chronic Safety Problems
Highway 401, stretching from Windsor to the Quebec border, is an example of the largest expressway in Ontario both in terms of traffic volumes and length. Not all expressways are the same and special dangers exist even though expressways are the safest modes of road travel in Ontario.
In comparison to 2-lane, rural highways Ontario’s expressways have always been a safer mode of travel. However, because of higher traffic volumes, the number of reported serious and fatal collisions is higher on Ontario’s expressways. Such statistics produced by Ontario’s Provincial government provide the excuse to disregard persistent safety problems on its expressways, some of which are created by government policy.
Only Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation knows the exact number of reportable collisions on its expressways. And these numbers are generally hidden. What remains is the subset of collisions that are identified in official news media reports and OPP social media accounts. Members of the public would have to expend large quantities of time scouring all these sources to obtain any sense of those collision frequencies. While Gorski Consulting attempts to keep track of most of these collisions, we are not under the delusion that we have captured them all. In the following text we provide some of those collisions that made the headlines for the month of December, 2019.
- On December 1, 2019, a female driver was killed when her vehicle “came to rest in a treeline” on the north side of Hwy 401 near Orford Road in Chatham-Kent. Since forested areas are located a substantial distance of the travel lanes it was unusual, and unexplained, how this fatality occurred.
- On December 1, 2019 a multi-vehicle pile-up, involving 30 to 40 vehicles, occurred in the westbound lanes of Hwy 401 in Kingston near Hwy 15. One person was killed while 16 persons were taken to hospital. The OPP indicated the collision occurred in whiteout conditions.
- On December 1, 2019, a 24-year-old female driver of an SUV was killed when her vehicle was struck by a tractor-trailer near Jordan Road. It was reported by the OPP that the collision occurred just as freezing rain was starting to fall.
- On December 1, 2019, the OPP reported that there were about 400 vehicles involved in collisions in the GTA. These collisions were caused by winter-like road conditions with a mix of ice pellets and snowfall.
- On December 1, 2019, complaints were made by the OPP that drivers on Hwy 403 were turning around and driving the wrong way within a construction zone in the Mississauga area. It was confirmed that there were winter roads conditions as evidenced in video showing vehicles making the U-turns but it was never explained what prompted the vehicles to make these turns.
- On December 6, 2019, a female pedestrian was struck by transport truck on the QEW near Dorval Drive in Oakville. It was reported that she exited a stopped passenger car just before she was struck. There were conflicting reports whether the female was critical condition or had passed away.
- On December 6, 2019 a passenger car was rear-ended by a small truck on H2y 401 near Warden Ave, causing critical injuries to two children. The collision occurred when traffic was slowing and OPP indicated “It appears the collision was the result of either driver inattention or a driver not responding to change traffic patterns ahead”.
- On December 6, 2019 a wheel separated from a commercial motor vehicle on Hwy 401 in Southwold Township, south-west of London, Ontario. The separated wheel passed through the median and truck two oncoming vehicles but no injuries were reported.
- On December 11, 2019 OPP reported the occurrence of a multi-vehicle pile-up in the westbound lanes of Hwy 401 near County Road 15 east of Brockville. A second pile-up occurred near Deseronto Road. One person died in the crashes. The environmental conditions were described as “snowy” and this was supported by photos showing a substantial amount of snow covering the road surface.
- On December 11, 2019 a tractor-trailer rolled over on Hwy 401 between Colonel Talbot and Union Roads, south-west of London. No injuries were reported and no explanation was provided as to how the rolled truck came to be resting across all three lanes of the highway.
- On December 11, 2019 the OPP reported that one of their cruisers was struck in the westbound lanes of Hwy 401 between Cobourg and Brighton, east of Toronto. The collision was blamed on the formation of “black ice”. No other details were provided.
- On December 18, 2019 the OPP reported that six crashes had occurred, involving multiple vehicles, on Hwy 401 between Putnam Road and Ingersoll. The collisions occurred in both the eastbound and westbound lanes. An OPP photo of the area showed a substantial amount of snow on the road surface. No further information was provided with respect to any injuries.
- On December 19, 2019 the OPP reported that approximately 50 vehicles, including 6 transport trucks, were involved in a pile-up on Hwy 400 near Hwy 88 north of Toronto. An OPP photo of the area showed that the road surface was snow-covered.
- On December 20, 2019 the OPP reported that a pedestrian was struck on the Garden City Skyway in St Catharines. It was reported that the pedestrian had stepped out of vehicle from an earlier collision and was struck by a vehicle passing through the site of the earlier collision.
- On December 21, 2019, A three-vehicle collision occurred in the westbound lanes of Hwy 401 near Hwy 6, east of Cambridge. Two persons died in the crash. No information was provided as to how the crash occurred.
- On December 21, 2019, four vehicles were involved in a collision in the eastbound lanes of the QEW east of Winston Churchill Blvd. Six persons were transported to hospital but none of the injuries were life-threatening. No information was provided as to the cause of the collision.
- On December 26, 2019 a serious rear-end impact occurred in the eastbound lanes of Hwy 401 approaching Dixon Road in Toronto. Three persons were sent to hospital but no further details were available.
- On December 26, 2019 a four-vehicle collision occurred on the QEW east of Dorval Drive. Five persons were transported to hospital and one driver was charged with impaired driving.
- On December 27, 2019 a hit-&-run, rear-end impact occurred on the westbound off ramp from Hwy 401 to Liverpool road in Pickering. No further details were available.
- On December 30, 2019 a vehicle became disabled in a live lane of the eastbound express lanes of Hwy 401 at Allen Road. A occupant from the vehicle was subsequently struck by a tractor-trailer and was killed.
- On December 31, 2019 two trailer-trailers were involved a collision in the westbound lanes of Hwy 401 at Furnival Road between London and Chatham, Ontario. No injuries were reported.
When looking at this small list of 21 collisions it is difficult to detect patterns where certain factors need to be addressed. In many reported incidents news media only report what police have told them and there is no independent verification or investigation conducted to confirm if the reported information is accurate. Furthermore news is only provided at the early onset of an incident when there is little knowledge of what actually happened. Then there is no follow-up to find out what has changed or what has been learned in subsequent days or weeks.
But select individuals at Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation (MTO) and in major municipalities in Ontario have access to large datasets of all collisions that have occurred over many decades in their jurisdictions. The MTO has published the “Ontario Road Safety Annual Report” (ORSAR) for several decades and this provides some reasonably detailed summaries of collisions in the province. However recent editions of the ORSAR only have “Preliminary” data such that, as we move into the year 2020, the full ORSAR is not available since 2016. ORSAR has never broken down collision frequencies for Ontario’s expressways. Large municipalities sometimes provide yearly summaries of collisions in their jurisdictions but there is never any full access by the public to the actual raw data.
Overall, Ontario’s expressways suffer from chronic safety problems that are masked by the fact that, given the very large traffic volumes, they provide a safer environment than any of the lower volume highways. The greatest chronic problem appears to be the reality that drivers expect to be travelling at a high and constant speed over a long time and distance. This expectation is violated when there is a sudden traffic slow down. Speeds of 120 km/h or higher can be relatively safe so long as all traffic is travelling at a similar speed. It is the difference in speed that is the problem, not necessarily the magnitude of that speed.
There are obvious exceptions when environmental conditions reduce the coefficient of friction of the highway surface and speeds must be reduced. While some drivers slow down, many drivers do not. This difference in speeds makes the problem worse because of the ineffectiveness of hard braking and inability to take evasive actions on a slippery surface.
The Ontario government causes safety problems with its policies and laws. It introduced speed limiting of heavy trucks while not doing so for smaller vehicles. Along with poor enforcement of maximum speeds this results in smaller vehicles travelling at much higher speeds than heavy trucks, thus producing the dangerous speed difference that causes many collisions.
Ontario’s government has caused further safety problems with its introduction of a mandatory “Move Over” law which they believe will improve the safety of emergency personnel who must often stop along the high speed highways. Drivers face fines if they do not move over away from the lane that is closest the stopped emergency vehicles. Drivers must also slow down. This mandatory requirement results in many drivers making risky movements out of a lane when they are not fully sure that the movement can be made in safety. Slowing down also causes problems as this creates speed differences which are the initiating causes of many collisions.
Ontario’s policy makers fail to understand that most of Ontario’s expressways contain high volumes of long and wide trucks that are obstructions to visibility. While the lights of emergency vehicles can be seen from a very long distance when these trucks do not block a driver’s view, on occasions there can be very limited warning of the presence of a stopped emergency vehicle when two or three or more large trucks create a wall and prevent visibility ahead. In many instances drivers who detect a large and slow-moving truck moving from the right lanes into a left lane will attempt to pass the truck on the right and not detect the presence of a stopped emergency vehicle until the last instance when an emergency reaction is required.
As heavy trucks mostly travel along Ontario’s expressways at the 105 km/h limit this takes away the important ability to accelerate as a way to avoid a potential collision. Many driving instructors teach novice drivers that a scenario may require the driver to apply maximum acceleration to get out of a situation where an impact is imminent. Heavy trucks are deficient in their ability to create such acceleration. But speed limiting completely stops that option from being used as a truck that is already travelling at 105 km/h cannot go any faster to avoid a conflict. This is particularly important at highway entrance ramps where trucks are always in the right lane when vehicles enter the highway. Truckers could avoid a potential conflict if they could accelerate to improve an entering driver’s ability to enter the highway safely. But speed limiting takes away that option.
In other instances long queues of stopped vehicles occur on approaches to construction zones and there is little attention paid to the extreme lengths of some of these queues. When the queues extend over a number of kilometres the warning signs that are usually placed closer to the construction zone may not exist at the end of a long queue. This results in very little warning that traffic is slowing or stopping. Many rear-end impacts, often by heavy trucks, lead to severe and fatal collisions because of such problems.
In other instances snow plowing, sanding and salting is performed after illogical delays after considerable snow has fallen and ice has formed. These slippery conditions are a continual problem whenever a winter weather system passes over an expressway in Ontario. Even though there are numerous collisions created during these conditions the Ontario government sees no reason to change its winter maintenance recommendations, choosing instead to blame driver foolishness and inattentiveness for the multiple collisions.
In summary, Ontario’s expressways, like almost all expressways in North America, are designed and generally maintained to a higher standard resulting in superior safety in comparison to lower volume highways. Yet chronic problems that have been apparent for several decades, and in some instances are increasing, seem to be ignored for unexplainable reasons.
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