It’s been more than a week since two different crashes caused vehicles to go over the guardrail of the Kitchener flyover. Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are now sharing updates as similar accidents keep happening across southern Ontario.
The incidents in Kitchener occurred on the same day, just hours apart, on Jan. 26.
In both cases, it’s reported that the vehicles lost control and slid onto the snow-covered shoulder before launching over the guardrail and falling to the highway below.
The second crash resulted in the death of a woman from Waterloo who was driving one of the vehicles.
Following those incidents, other similar crashes were reported on the QEW in Niagara and Highway 427 in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Thankfully, no fatalities occurred in either of those collisions.
“Those continue to be under investigation. Obviously, the ramps have all been cleaned and cleared by the road maintenance contractors through the MTO,” said OPP Sergeant Kerry Schmidt. “The OPP work collaboratively with them all the time as well.”
This brings the total number of dangerous guardrail accidents to four within just one week, making it a hectic period for OPP. They noted that driver error seems to be involved in each of these cases.
“The collisions themselves do point towards driver error in all situations, where the drivers ended up losing control on a road that was being travelled by the motoring public in these four instances,” Schmidt said.
At that time during the Kitchener crashes, Schmidt mentioned that “the roads were in good shape; obviously snow on the shoulders, but the highways themselves had been plowed, had been salted, and traffic had been getting through there throughout the weekend.”
A crash Jan. 30 on the ramp from Fort Erie-bound QEW to Highway 420. (OPP Highway Safety Division/X)
This situation has led OPP to remind drivers to adjust their speed according to winter conditions. They urge everyone to slow down and stay alert when weather calls for caution.
“It’s something that we’re certainly keeping an eye on and really it’s MTO and road maintenance contractors who are responsible for snow plowing, snow clearing, and removing snow when necessary,” Schmidt added.
This news comes as Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) reports needing to respond to more collisions this winter than they did throughout last season.
The investigations by OPP are still ongoing while The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is also “reviewing winter maintenance operations” related to these incidents.
570 News Radio has reached out to MTO for an update regarding their efforts along with ongoing snow-clearing operations but hasn’t received any response after multiple attempts.
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