Commuter chaos: back-to-back crashes shut down 401 EB through Mississauga

A chaotic Thursday on Highway 401 through Mississauga as a series of back-to-back crashes shut down the eastbound lanes.

It all started shortly after 8:00 a.m. – as three vehicles and two transport trucks were involved in a pile-up at Winston Churchill. All eastbound 401 lanes were closed as a result, and the backlog of volume quickly led to a number of other issues.

Just as crews reopened the affected lanes, two tractor trailers then crashed just down the Highway at Trafalgar Road – forcing another full closure of the eastbound 401 and 407 lanes.

OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt says one of the drivers was trapped inside their vehicle, and westbound lanes of the 401 were briefly closed at Trafalgar as an Ornge air ambulance was called in.

“The driver was airlifted to a nearby trauma centre – he suffered serious, but non-life threatening injuries.”

Eastbound 401 and 407 lanes reopened at Trafalgar Road around 1:30 p.m. – but Schmidt says at least two other crashes were reported in the wake of this last one.

“We have another crash between James Snow and Martin by Highway 25, reports that a transport truck went into the back of several cars. There’s also another crash involving multiple vehicles in that same area – both aren’t believed to be serious, and officers are en route to the scenes.”

The good news is – all of the crashes have since cleared, but Schmidt calls the incidents concerning.

“These crashes all appear to be secondary – what that means is because there’s a crash in one area, and people aren’t paying attention to the slowdowns and congestion – we now have secondary crashes, which are completely preventable. Open your eyes, look down the road, give yourself following distance – and there’s no reason for these collisions to be happening. Spring is coming – and this is not the trend we want to have.”

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