Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit says Northumberland OPP were not responsible for a crash at a road closure on Highway 401 in the Municipality of Port Hope this summer.
On July 1 around 2:45 a.m., emergency crews were initially dispatched to a vehicle fire in the eastbound lanes of the highway one kilometre east of Wesleyville. No one was injured.
According to SIU director Joseph Martino, about an hour later, while crews were still on scene, a man driving a vehicle came upon a road closure that included pylons and police cruisers and fire department vehicles with their emergency lights activated.
Martino says the driver slowed and continued into the far left lane. The vehicle had nearly passed the scene when it was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer.
OPP said the driver of the vehicle was first transported to Northumberland Hills Hospital in Cobourg and then later airlifted to a Toronto trauma centre with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
In his report issued Monday, Martino said the driver of the tractor-trailer was responsible for the collision, not police.
“It did not appear the setup of the road closure contributed to the collision,” Martino concluded. “Thus, the investigation has been discontinued and the file has been closed.”
The SIU investigate any incidents involving Ontario police when there are civilian injuries, death or allegations of sexual assault.
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