It’s time for action, OPP commissioner tells trucking industry after fatal crash
TORONTO — The trucking industry needs to take a close look at the way it conducts business in the aftermath of a deadly multi-vehicle crash that authorities believe was caused by a transport truck driver, the head of Ontario’s provincial police said Wednesday.
The OPP will do “what it takes” to end distracted driving by truckers, commissioner Vince Hawkes said near the scene of the collision on Highway 400 that killed three people.
The 14-vehicle pileup, that occurred late Tuesday, is believed to have been triggered by a transport truck crashing into slowing traffic, police said. It came just days after Hawkes put truck drivers “on notice” for being inattentive while behind the wheel.
“Unfortunately this is what we see time and time again and … the trend is getting worse,” Hawkes said, noting that commercial vehicles are involved in a quarter of fatal collisions investigated by the OPP.