Icy conditions appear to be the cause of the 35-car pileup on the 401 early Sunday morning.
Sgt. Kerry Schmidt told Global News police received a call around 1 a.m., about a multi-vehicle collision on the 401 in both eastbound and westbound lanes in the stretch between Avenue and Yonge.
“It was just a complete skating rink according to officers and people who were there,” Schmidt said. “Cars were slipping and sliding everywhere.”
Early reports said upwards of 50 cars were involved but Schmidt told Global News that the number is closer to 35.
Toronto paramedics said seven people were transported to hospital, all with non-life-threatening injuries.
Firefighters had to salt the roads as they walked to avoid slipping on the black ice.
“You have to remember, this is still late February, early March, so you can still see temperatures below the freezing mark, you can still see snow, and that’s what we got early this morning,” Global News meteorologist Ross Hull said.
“You had mild conditions during the day, then temperatures dropped below the freezing mark and you had snow falling,” Hull explained. “That snow can fall onto the warmer pavement then refreeze and cause a coating of ice.”
Another contributing factor to the pileup – the part of the highway affected was an elevated portion.
“Whenever you have a highway that is elevated above the ground, the surface can get much colder quicker than if it was right on the ground,” Hull said.
The recent rain mixed with the milder conditions could have also washed off the salt and the deicing agents on the roadways which makes for slippery conditions.
Schmidt said roads were able to be reopened around 3:50 a.m., after everything was cleaned up and the MTO crews were able to get through with salt.
While accidents of this magnitude don’t happen often, and are usually a result of “specific weather events” when they do, Schmidt said it “comes down to always being present and alert to your surroundings and always looking down the road to anticipate road changes and traffic patterns.
“It’s hard to do but drivers need to be in control of their vehicles regardless of the road conditions.”
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