A man is dead after a crash between a car and a truck on Highway 401 Monday morning.The crash occurred around 5:20 a.m. in the westbound lanes of Highway 401 at Martin Grove Rd., closing all lanes, said Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Kerry Schmidt. “It’s an absolutely devastating crash,” he said. “The driver of the car is deceased. The driver of the truck is obviously very shaken up.” Schmidt said the driver of the car is thought to be a 56-year-old man from Toronto. The crash appeared to be a rear-end collision to the back of the car, but Schmidt said the reconstruction team would be able to confirm what happened after an investigation. “It doesn’t look like there’s really any environmental issues in the area that would’ve contributed to line of sight or visibility or road conditions, but that’s still part of the investigation,” Schmidt told media. The highway is expected to be closed for several hours, which will affect the morning rush hour. Schmidt is appealing for witnesses who were in the area around the time of the crash to come forward with details. The Toronto detachment of the OPP can be reached at 416-235-4981. This collision comes on the same day that the OPP launch “Operation Safe Trucking,” a province wide campaign aiming to combat distracted transport truck drivers. `Every year, collisions that involve commercial motor vehicles are in the thousands and they result in significant loss of life. So far this year, the OPP has responded to more than 6,200 transport truck-related collisions, with 87 people dying in 72 of those crashes,” said Commissioner J.V.N. (Vince) Hawkes of the OPP. Of those 6,200 collisions investigated, OPP data said that the driver of the transport truck was at fault 65 per cent of the time. OPP officers will be getting into the cabs of transport trucks of their own in order to better observe what is going on at the wheels of similar-sized vehicl ...
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