Road crews worked throughout the night on Highway 400 following a string of
weather-related multi-vehicle pileups that closed a stretch of the highway near Bradford for most of the day Sunday.
Sudden whiteouts precipitated the chain-reaction crashes, beginning with a 37-vehicle collision in the southbound lanes north of Highway 88. That accident sent 29 people to hospital.
Another crash involving 30 vehicles near Highway 89 left another nine people hurt.
Crews restored the broken guide rails, some of which were smashed open in crashes, others cut for emergency vehicles to get through, in order to get the roadway reopened for the Monday morning commute. In all Highway 400 was closed between Highways 88 and 89 for more than 12 hours.
Smaller pileups along the highway included a 15 car accident in the northbound lanes. Drivers said the conditions appeared from out of nowhere.
"There was a whiteout, all the cars were piled in front of us and we went into it," described Bruce Gillespie, one of the motorists affected by the crashes. "We only saw it at the last second."
OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley argued motorists weren't adjusting their speed for the wild weather.
"It's the fourth time this year that we've responded to that section of Highway 400 for numerous multi-car crashes," he said. "It was predicted. Environment Canada had warned people about the approaching squalls, and it was simply a case of people not adjusting their speed. We saw motorists still doing close to 100 kilometres an hour in reduced visibility."
Buses were brought in to the area to shelter affected drivers and passengers, while medical assistance arrived from Toronto, York, Bradford and surrounding areas.
No one suffered life-threatening injuries in the crashes, and though 40 people were treated for injuries only one individual was seriously hurt.
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