The driver of a car that was seen in a viral video being pushed by a dump truck along the Gardiner Expressway says she is grateful to have avoided any serious injuries.
Courtenay Erhardt said she was on her way to work as a nurse at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic around 10 a.m. Tuesday when the crash happened.
Erhardt said she was getting onto the westbound Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto when the truck hit her vehicle.
“Unfortunately this truck didn’t see me, or he claimed to not see me, and hit me from behind and I spun sideways and then he just continued to push me up the ramp onto the Gardiner,” she said.
“At first when he hit me and made initial impact, I just realized that I was hit and that hopefully, you know, he’d stop.”
But police say the car was then dragged by the truck for over half a kilometre.
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A viral video posted by Const. Scott Matthews from TikTok user @401_dah_sarponch shows the dump truck pushing the sideways Mini Cooper at what appears to be a high speed up the on-ramp and along the Gardiner, leaving a heavy cloud of dust in its wake.
“I just started to completely freak out and realized that I was being pushed by this truck,” Erhardt said.
“I remember just immediately holding my hand on my horn and honking as loud as I could and also bracing my steering wheel because I didn’t want to veer off anywhere and honestly I was just screaming and crying and praying as loud as I could at that moment.
“I thought I was gonna die.”
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Erhardt said as she was looking through the windshield of her vehicle, she made eye contact with a couple driving in the other lane.
She says they called 911 and then moved in front of the truck with their hazard lights on and stopped their car, finally forcing the truck to stop.
Erhardt said she has a headache and some body aches but otherwise is in good health.
“I left the scene without any major injuries, which was honestly just such a miracle, so I’m just really grateful for that,” she said.
“I couldn’t believe that someone had recorded it but I’m kind of thankful because, you know, it was hard to describe.”
Meanwhile, police said the driver of the dump truck has been charged with several driving and commercial motor vehicle offences.
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