Ontario Provincial Police are asking for the public’s help to locate a driver who appears in video to hit the front of a car while improperly passing on Highway 410, causing it to smash into a median and swerve into oncoming traffic.
Chris Maxwell, the owner of the vehicle that crashed who was on his way home from work, sent Global News a 59-second video of the incident. He said a Good Samaritan recorded the incident on their dash cam. In the video, Maxwell’s car can be seen travelling northbound in a HOV lane on Highway 410 in Mississauga at around 4:50 p.m. on May 3.
Maxwell’s vehicle can be seen approaching Derry Road East when a black car comes into frame. The black car can be seen getting closer and closer to the rear bumper of Maxwell’s car when the driver of the black car appears to swerve out of the HOV lane into the passing lane and overtake the man’s vehicle.
When the black car comes into the HOV lane, it appears to make contact with the front-right bumper of Maxwell’s vehicle while the brake lights come on briefly.
The vehicle can then be seen driving left into the median before swerving right into the passing lane of the highway and turning around completely.
“(I was) just trying to keep the car on the road, and hopefully keep my passenger safe,” Maxwell told Global News.
“We hit the wall. We hit it twice. The damage to the car was front and rear passenger side.”
The Good Samaritan can be seen pulling over in front of Maxwell’s vehicle right after.
The circumstances leading up to the crash aren’t clear, but OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt called the incident “upsetting” when asked about it by Global News.
“The driver is well aware that they’re involved in a collision and you see the vehicle spinning out and apparently they pay no regard for it and they take off,” he said, confirming officers were called to the same section of road on May 3 for a reported hit-and-run.
“That’s road rage, that’s aggressive driving, and they did not need to pass the vehicle the way they did.”
Schmidt said this type of incident has become all too common, adding the utilization of dash cams by drivers helps police in their investigations.
“We get many of these types of occurrences who are at fault for a crash, but their vehicle is still driveable and they flee the scene hoping they can avoid prosecutions,” he said.
“The roads are a privilege. Driving is a privilege. Drivers who act like this have no business on our highways.”
Schmidt said it’s too early to say what charges the driver of the black car could face since the investigation is still ongoing, but they could be cited for dangerous driving, failure to remain and stunt driving.
Meanwhile, Maxwell said he and his passenger didn’t sustain any major injuries.
Anyone with information about the identity of the driver or the vehicle involved is asked to call the OPP’s Port Credit detachment at 905-278-6131.
— With files from Catherine McDonald
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