A 21-year-old man is facing multiple charges after a wrong-way driver sideswiped several cars on Highway 401 and crashed into a light post in Milton earlier this month, according to Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
Investigators posted dashcam footage of the incident on social media Wednesday, and called the incident “shocking.”
“This is not something you would ever expect to see while driving on the highway,” said OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt in the video.
It happened on the evening of Sept. 7 around 6 p.m. Police say a man was driving eastbound into traffic on the westbound lanes of Highway 401 near James Snow Parkway in Milton.
Mississauga OPP officers arrested the driver after he attempted to run off from a crash, according to police.
Dashcam footage released by OPP officials shows a dark-coloured Honda sedan driving through oncoming traffic and narrowly missing the vehicle recording the video. A few cars further up the highway can be seen pulled to the side of the road.
The accused is facing charges of dangerous driving, failing to remain at the scene of collision and driving the wrong way on a divided highway. Police say they are investigating whether or not the driver was impaired.
“Anyone in their right mind would never do something like that,” said Schmidt. “So that’s what we’re trying to figure out: what was going on with this driver going the wrong way on a divided highway?”
No injuries were reported and Schmidt said the evasive actions of highway drivers helped avoid potentially “tragic outcomes.”
“It does happen on a pretty regular basis, unfortunately,” Schmidt told CBC Toronto in an interview. “And it has resulted in fatal crashes.”
He urged drivers to be aware of their surroundings and said collisions can happen in milliseconds.
“Sometimes it’s just a matter of a blink of an eye,” he said.
