A driver who police said triggered a three-vehicle crash on the southbound Don Valley Parkway early Thursday morning has been charged with careless driving.
Toronto police said the collision happened around 6:30 a.m. just south of Don Mills Road.
Const. Clint Stibbe said the crash involved a cube van and two other vehicles.
“One car went out of control, struck a second vehicle,” Stibbe said.
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That second vehicle, a Volkswagon Tiguan driven by veteran Canadian broadcaster Lloyd Robertson, then hit the cube van. The van landed on its side across multiple lanes.
Stibbe said a 24-year-old woman, who was driving the first vehicle, was charged in the collision. The southbound lanes reopened to traffic at 9 a.m.
Police said shortly after, there was another collision in the northbound lanes.
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The City of Toronto’s quick clear squad was dispatched to early morning crash. Speaking at an unrelated event Thursday, Mayor John Tory was questioned by reporters about the lengthy delay on the DVP.
“We had a large truck turned over that required a very specialized piece of equipment to be brought in to turn it right side up, so it wasn’t what the quick clear squads were meant to address. They were meant to address a minor collision, a stalled car,” he said.
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The squads were brought in as a two-month pilot project in fall. They were deployed to monitor the DVP and the Gardiner Expressway for traffic delays during the morning commutes on weekdays.
After seeing plenty success, the crews were permanently implemented on both thoroughfares.
“We’ve got to keep working at this and people, I hope, can see that I’m trying to take every step and that we learn from every one of these kinds of incidents that lock the traffic up — to clear them away as quickly as possible,” Tory said.
“But there are going to be some, whether it’s a truck turning over or a fatal collision, that are going to take longer.”
Dave Twaddle, director of transportation services for the City of Toronto, confirmed to Global News that two trucks were dispatched to the collision. He responded to criticisms of the delay caused to commuters.
“What it comes down to is the investigation police have to undertake and the type of collision that has occurred, so we just ask that motorists be patient because each individual collision is different,” Twaddle said.
He said city staff will be increasing the squads’ presence on the roads. They are looking at expanding the squads to afternoon shifts as of May and weekend shifts in June.
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