According to officials with the Ontario Provincial Police, a 70-year-old woman died in a rear-end collision on Feb. 10. The accident occurred on Highway 401 shortly before 9 a.m., took place in Missaugua, and resulted in the closure of the highway between Trafalgar Road and Winston Churchill Boulevard.
Reports say that a 72-year-old man was driving an Oldsmobile Alero on the highway when he apparently crashed into the back of a transport truck. Emergency responders called to the scene pronounced his 70-year-old female passenger dead. The man was transported via ORNGE air ambulance with critical injuries to Sunnybrook hospital. The truck’s driver was apparently not injured in the collision.
Officers are uncertain what caused the man to collide with the truck. They did say the truck had slowed along with other traffic ahead. However, the 72-year-old reportedly failed to reduce his speed in response to the slowed traffic ahead of him. All lanes of the highway were reopened three hours after the accident. There is no word on the man’s current condition.
When a person is killed in a rear-end collision due to the negligence of a driver, his or her family may want to consider filing a wrongful death civil lawsuit against the driver. Motorists owe a duty of care while driving to the other drivers on the road as well as the passengers riding in their vehicles. When their negligent behavior results in a collision that causes harm or death to others, they violate that duty. In such a situation, the family of a person who is killed may be able to hold the driver civilly liable through the lawsuit. In that way, they may recover damages to compensate for their losses.
