Minivan slams into six vehicles
‘I saw this minivan flying up the opposing lane at a very high rate of speed,’ crash witness says
Police are investigating after a multi-vehicle fatal collision sent multiple people to hospital Monday afternoon and left a trail of destruction on the Lansdowne Street bridge over the Trent-Severn Waterway.
At least one person died and four were injured after a vehicle sped through the intersection of River Road South and Lansdowne Street East just before 2 p.m. and collided with six vehicles, narrowly avoiding others.
Police, paramedics and firefighters responded and the bridge was closed to vehicle and foot traffic for hours for an investigation.
Several eyewitnesses said a beige minivan was seen driving at high speed just before crashing into the vehicles at the red light.
Rori Benson was taking his girlfriend to work and heading west when they stopped at the light and saw a vehicle swerve into oncoming traffic, speeding past them and striking a pickup truck head-on in the opposite lane.
“I looked in my mirrors and I saw this minivan flying up the opposing lane at a very high rate of speed,” he said.
“It took me a minute to process what was actually happening, but when the vehicle made impact, it was just complete carnage.”
Trapped in the line of vehicles and not being able to do anything, Benson said he turned to his girlfriend and told her something terrible was going to happen.
“I looked at my girlfriend and I said something bad is going to happen and within seconds it was it was four or five vehicle collisions, and it was all over,” he said.
Debris littered the bridge in both directions, and many vehicles were heavily damaged on the east side of the bridge, leaving witnesses stunned by what had happened.
“When the vehicle made impact, things went flying up in the air, there were car parts everywhere,” he said. “Everyone around me was kind of feeling the same thing and they were all in shock.”
Andrew Benson (no relation), who was heading east at the time, likened the crash to happening in slow motion and not being able to do anything about it.
“It was kind of that same idea, slow motion. You can put your hand down, but you can’t put your hand down, that type of idea,” he said.
Andrew Benson, whose car was third in line at the red light, behind a pickup truck, said he is grateful to have walked away from the accident.
“When the van hit the truck in front of us, it pushed a black car in front of us, I witnessed the van hit the guardrail on the bridge crumpling it and came to rest 50 to 100 feet behind us,” he said.
Jumping into action, witnesses started going from vehicle to vehicle to make sure people were OK, Rori Benson said.
“I got out of my car, I went on the scene, and I tried to assist as much as I could, just making sure that everyone’s OK, he said.
“Others were helping people out of the vehicles and just making sure everyone was OK for the most part.”
Lansdowne Street was closed in both directions to motorists between Lock Street and Ashburnham Drive. No access to Lansdowne Street was being allowed from Sherburne Street or Edward Street. River Road South traffic was diverted east on Sydenham Road.
At 3:30 p.m., city police said the area was expected to be closed to traffic for several hours while a police traffic reconstruction team took measurements.
As of 7:30 p.m., the city police investigation continued with vehicles remaining at the scene.
There was no immediate word from investigators on why the minivan sped through the light and into the opposite bound lanes.
Peterborough Transit’s Route 7 was unable to make full route trips during the closure. Shuttle service for riders needing to get to the east side was provided from the Memorial Centre.