Cabbie charged after truck slammed from behind on Hwy. 404
Cabbie charged after truck slammed from behind on Hwy. 404
Tow trucks begin removing two vehicles that collided on Hwy. 404 just north of Elgin Mills Road Friday morning. STAFF PHOTO/SJOERD WITTEVEEN
Markham
July 11, 2008 10:23 AM
Joe Fantauzzi, Staff Writer
A cabbie has been charged with impaired driving after a two-vehicle crash in Markham this morning.
At about 3:15 a.m., a black pickup truck was headed south on Hwy. 404 approaching Elgin Mills Road, at or slightly below the speed limit, when a white Ford Crown Victoria cab travelling at a “substantially higher speed” slammed into the back of it, Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Cam Woolley said.
The pickup rolled through the centre median and flipped on to its roof, trapping the female driver, while the cab came to a stop in the centre median, he said.
Initial reports of the cab travelling the wrong way on the highway were later found to be untrue, Sgt. Woolley said.
The woman was taken to St. Michael’s Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
“We’re very thankful she didn’t have a passenger,” Sgt. Woolley said.
The taxi driver suffered minor injuries and was arrested at the scene. He is charged with impaired driving causing bodily harm and driving with more than 80 milligrams of alcohol in the blood.
Police say he had a blood alcohol content of more than three times the legal limit.
Southbound lanes of the highway were closed for hours while investigators probed the crash.
The cab, which is licensed to Vaughan company Minute Taxi, is an ex-police cruiser, Sgt. Woolley added.
“It’s so frustrating to see impaired driving is still a problem after all these years,” Sgt. Woolley said.
“We want to get 911 calls about impaired drivers.”
Investigators are appealing for information about where the cab entered Hwy. 404 and if anyone saw the driver before the crash.
If you have any information, call the OPP’s Aurora detachment at 905-841-5777.