West Region OPP respond to dozens of collisions after drivers fail to adapt to road conditions

Local OPP are expressing their frustration following a busy morning on area highways.

West Region OPP responded to over 40 collisions between 7 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on Monday as drivers failed to adjust to the changing weather conditions.

Several of the collisions involved tractor trailers on Highway 401, but OPP Const. Adam Crewdson said the drivers were lucky to walk away with only minor injuries.

“I can tell you, when I was out on the side of the 401 at one of the collisions on the westbound 401, we had vehicles just driving by us at highway speeds, and that’s after having three police cars there, having flares set up, and they’re not slowing down so it’s actually quite a shock to see that people are not taking this seriously,” said Crewdson.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I can tell you, when I was out on the side of the 401 at one of the collisions on the westbound 401, we had vehicles just driving by us at highway speeds, and that's after having three police cars there, having flares set up, and they're not slowing down so it's actually quite a shock to see that people are not taking this seriously," said Crewdson.

After a special weather statement was issued earlier Monday morning and later ended, Environment Canada issued another on Monday afternoon impacting London, Parkhill, Strathroy and Komoka as well as eastern and western Middlesex County.

It warns residents about the risk for freezing rain this evening, which could leave city streets and area highways very slippery. Any freezing rain will be brief, however, as rising temperatures will change the precipitation over to rain.

City of London salt trucks are making their way along main roads and bus routes.

The temperature is expected to climb to 8 C by Tuesday morning, before falling to 3 C in the afternoon with the risk of more mixed precipitation.