39 reported crashes in early morning drive in Kitchener/Waterloo region

The eastbound Highway 401 was slow Wednesday morning at the Townline Road interchange as crews worked to remove a jackknifed tractor trailer.
Photo: Robert Wilson, Record staff

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Source: The Record

ONTARIO - Slow down. Leave lots of room. Be prepared to stop.

This is the advice police are giving motorists today as they experience the season’s first taste of winter driving.

Wet, packed snow made for a messy, icy Wednesday morning drive, causing several collisions on local roads and highways.

Several tractor trailers went off the road along Highway 401, including one that skidding into the ditch from the eastbound lanes near the Townline Road exit around 4:40 a.m.

Another single vehicle crash occurred in the westbound lanes of Highway 7/8 at Trussler Road at 6:16 a.m., the same time another vehicle went into the ditch in the westbound lanes of Highway 401, near the Homer Watson Boulevard exit.

On city roads, regional police were busy responding to several minor collisions. By 11:30 a.m. Wednesday there were a total of 39 collisions reported, three of which included injuries.

One collision occurred on Northfield Drive at University Avenue after a vehicle hit a hydro pole. Officers are shutting down part of Northfield Drive.

Other crashes were reported on King Street East, Bleams Road and Manitou Drive. A vehicle was reported to be in the ditch at Erb Street and Notre Dame Drive in Wilmot Township. A rollover was also reported on Ament Line and Hawksville Road in Woolwich Township. Just after 8 a.m., a collision at Hwy. 7-8 at Waterloo Regional Road in Wilmot Township sent three vehicles into a ditch.

At 8:24 a.m. another vehicle went into the ditch on Highway 7/8 at Notre Dame Drive in Wilmot Township. Another vehicle went into the ditch on the westbound lanes of Highway 401 at Cedar Creek Road in North Dumfries Township. A westbound lane of Highway 401 at Wellington Road 32 is also blocked after a two-vehicle collision.

“We’re getting one after another,” said OPP Sgt. Dave Woodford. “People are driving too fast and not slowing down for the conditions.”

Woodford said numerous tractor trailers jackknifed and went into ditches all along Highway 401. The roads are very slippery and people aren’t leaving enough room behind other vehicles to allow them time to stop, he said.

Waterloo Regional Police Staff Sgt. Scott Diefenbaker said people should be driving well below the speed limit on days like today.

“If you’re doing the speed limit on a day like today you are really driving too fast,” he said.

For minor crashes where no one is injured, Diefenbaker said drivers should exchange their licence, insurance and ownership information and come to the Waterloo Regional Police collision reporting centre at 150 Maple Grove Road in Cambridge. This will free up an officer’s time to get to more serious collisions.