Driver dies in 406 wrong-way crash
Jeep collides with transport truck in early morning hours
A 54-year-old man from Welland is dead after he drove the wrong way on Highway 406 in the early morning hours Wednesday.
The man’s Jeep Cherokee collided headon with a transport truck at about 1 a.m. The driver of the Cherokee was pronounced dead on the scene.
Niagara Emergency Medical Services transported the driver of the tractor-trailer to hospital with minor injuries.
The collision occurred in the southbound lanes near Beaverdams Road.
That portion of the highway was closed until about 8:30 a.m. for investigation, said Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Kerry Schmidt.
There were reports police were on the lookout for the vehicle at the time of the crash and that the driver had been at the hospital earlier in the evening and left. It was reported that he might be impaired and that he was very agitated. A witness at the crash scene told The St. Catharines Standard he thought he saw a hospital ID bracelet on the driver’s arm.
“We are looking into that,” Schmidt said. “There was an incident at the hospital and a collision, later on, that matched the description. We are working to confirm all of that.”
Niagara Regional Police Const. Phil Gavin said the NRP received a call at about 12:40 a.m. from the area of King Street and
Third Street in Welland for a report of a possible impaired driver. Officers arrived in the area quickly, but were unable to locate the vehicle after searching for it.
Schmidt said police already have some dash-cam footage evidence and are appealing to the public for more. They also asking for anyone who was on Highway 406 at that time of night and may have noticed something out of the ordinary to con-The tact the Niagara OPP detachment.
The family of the deceased has been notified, Schmidt said.
A car travelling the wrong direction on a 400-series highway is a nightmare scenario for drivers.
“The expectation of seeing the vehicle isn’t there,” Schmidt said. “Depending on conditions, if you’re on a collision course, you would have very little time to react, if
vehicles are closing at 200 km/h, so it is going to be a massive crash.” OPP SERGEANT KERRY SCHMIDT
any time at all. There is nothing the truck driver could have done. He’s driving along, and by the time he realizes what’s happening, it’s probably too late. The vehicles are closing at 200 km/h, so it is going to be a massive crash.”
This is the second wrong-way fatal collision on Highway 406 in as many months.
On Oct. 2, the parents of a Brock University student were killed by a wrong-way driver at about 1:15 a.m. on the highway near Glendale Avenue.
Kulvir Singh Sidhu, 53, and Kulwinder Kaur Sidhu, 51, were driving home to Brampton after dropping off their daughter, Simran, 19, at Brock. The Sidhus’ vehicle car caught fire. Both parents died from their injuries.
The other driver, a 24-year-old Welland man, headed in the wrong direction was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
On Aug. 13, there was another wrong-way collision on Highway 406. A 23-year-old St. Catharines woman was charged with impaired driving, having an 80-plus blood alcohol level, as well as dangerous operation of a motor vehicle after a head-on crash in a construction zone left two people with injuries. The drivers of both vehicles were taken to local hospitals with injuries that were not life-threatening.
The crash occurred at about 5 a.m. in the southbound lane of the highway, north of Beaverdams Road.
Construction has reduced the highway to one lane in either direction as the highway crosses the Lake Gibson bridge.