A teenager is facing charges after police say he caused a crash by driving in the wrong direction on a one-way street in Oshawa.
“He was going northbound on Park Road, and he claims his GPS led him westbound on King Street,” says Dave Selby with Durham police.
The issue? That street only goes one direction — eastbound.
The newer driver from Uxbridge claims the accident happened because he was prompted to turn on to the road by his GPS.
“It looked like there was going to be head-on collision,” says Selby. Just before the crash, someone heading down King noticed the driver coming right for him.
It happened during the evening rush on Thursday, causing oncoming drivers to react swiftly.
“One vehicle swerved to the right, hit another vehicle and that vehicle ended up on its side,” says Selby.
Investigators say an elderly woman had to be extricated from the roof of her vehicle, but suffered only minor injuries. In cases like this, police say, drivers need to be aware of their surroundings.
“If the GPS tells you to do it and it doesn’t look right, that’s when you have to use your observation,” Selby explained.
Paul Chapman has been a driving instructor for more than 30 years. He teaches at Oshawa Driving School and says taking a wrong turn is common — but these tips, he says, will drive you in the right direction.
“There’s a stop line on the end of the roadway and that goes from one edge to the other edge,” he said, “where if it’s two way, the stop line goes partway across on both sides.”
Chapman says the simplest answer though: just pay attention 100 per cent of the time.