OPP cruiser Struck on 401

An OPP cruiser was struck and the officer and two citizens were sent to hospital with minor injuries today.

At noon hour (23JUL08), an OPP Highway Safety Division officer had stopped on the north shoulder of the westbound Highway 401, west of Ingersoll, to assist a motorist whose pickup truck had gone into the north ditch. The officer had the driver of the pickup in his cruiser at which time the cruiser was struck from the rear by a westbound van. The van continued on into the north ditch. The officer and two civilians ( drivers of the truck and van) were taken to the local hospital, treated and released. Highway 401 was closed several hours as OPP Technical Traffic Collision Investigators assisted at the scene.

Its a tragedy! Another example of failing to move into the left..I wonder what the driver of the van will be charged with since he actually hit the cruiser and there were injuries...

I personally like "Driving While Stupid". An incident like this should be cause for licence suspension, big fines etc. There is no reason or explanation for this to occur.

3 cents, 1 cent for GST

The news updated this collision this morning. It was weather related. A blinding rain storm had hit the area.

I've driven in this situation several times (rain, snow AND fog). I don't like to stop because of the likelihood of being struck from behind. I don't like to move because of the likelihood of hitting someone who DID stop. There's no PERFECT solution.

The last time I was behind a transport truck, I tried dropping back to a point I thought I would be able to see an emergency vehicle on the side of the road. Conclusion: It's very unlikely you'll ever see the masses maintain that kind of huge following distance.

Autobahn laws attack the problem in a much more effective way than we do. It is illegal to pull over and stop, PERIOD! You will even be charged if you run out of gas, because it is considered "preventable" there. The cops don't have to worry about pulling over speeders because there is no speed limit (on certain stretches). They recognize stopping on an expressway results in an unacceptably high number of serious wrecks (as do we) but they have taken a much more pro-active approach to minimizing these incidents. Over here, I see people stopped all the time: takin' a wiz, walking the dog, retrieving a hat, etc. Personally, I think it's safer to SPEED than it is being stopped for a speeding ticket!!!!

Ok, no driving while stupid charge here.

Bookm wrote:

The news updated this collision this morning. It was weather related. A blinding rain storm had hit the area.

If that is the case...and one can not see properly to stay within a marked lane......there is a problem......slow the *beep* down.

***No OPP media release yet as a cause***(just checked Ingersoll OPP site)

Same as the big fog collision down this way in 2000.....drivers failing to slow down so they can safely stop without hitting the rear of another vehicle.

I remember one night shift it ws so foggy I was down to about 65km/hr, (4 ways on) and a vehicle went past me at 137km/hr.....I did not even bother chasing the moron as fast as I could see the headlights approach from the rear, the tail lights were gone to the front.....no hope in hell that person could see another vehicle in the same lane, much less know which direction the road turned.

I know why he was going that fast......he had fog lights. I hear them suckers work really well when you mount them above the bumper too..

OK, end sarcasm.