More than 8 injured in crash on Hwy. 416, nearly 100 collisions reported in eastern Ontario from icy roads

It’s been a busy 24 hours for police and first responders, responding to nearly 100 collisions across the region. CTV’s Jack Richardson reports.

More than eight people were injured following a multi-vehicle collision on Highway 416 in eastern Ontario in the late hours of Friday night, according to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

It happened northbound on the highway between Highway 401 and County Road 21, south of Spencerville.

Police say just before midnight, a northbound vehicle left the road, rolling into the ditch. That was when multiple people stopped to offer help.

“Another vehicle left the road, striking one of the parked vehicles, and then entered the ditch, resulting in several people being injured,” the OPP said in a post on X.

Four people were taken to hospital with serious injuries. At least four others sustained minor injuries. They were also taken to hospital.

The OPP noted that “the weather conditions were poor at the time,” asking people to postpone non-essential travel.

Northbound Highway 416 between highway 401 and County Road 21 remained closed until Saturday afternoon, as police investigated and the MTO cleared and salted the road for safety.

Icy roads lead to nearly 100 collisions in eastern Ontario

As of Saturday afternoon, police responded to close to 100 collisions in eastern Ontario as a result of icy road conditions.

“Many were single vehicles landing in ditches, while some involved multiple vehicles. Most resulted in no injuries or minor injuries,” the OPP said in another post on X.

A major crash between two tractor trailers and a car has left one person dead on Highway 138 in the Township of North Stormont.

On Highway 401 through the Kingston area, police responded to 12 collisions in two hours Saturday morning.

The westbound of Highway 401 west of Gardiners Road was also closed following “a collision resulting in a tractor trailer rollover blocking lanes.” It has since reopened.

As the cleanup is underway from a spring snowstorm that started Friday evening in eastern Ontario and Ottawa, a second storm is approaching the region, bringing a “prolonged period” of freezing rain and ice accreditation on Sunday.

A spring snowfall in Brockville didn’t catch resident Jason Beames off guard. He kept his winter tires on.

“They say not to take them off until it’s like 10 (degrees) for a series of weeks,” he said.

Even though his truck can handle the snow, he’ll be taking it easy on the roads this weekend.

“I don’t worry about my driving. Everybody else’s driving, I worry about,” Beames said.

Authorities are advising drivers to avoid hitting the roads for the rest of the weekend with more winter conditions on the way.

“When conditions of the roadway, conditions in the weather are changing, you need to adjust your driving to match,” Dickson said.

“It’s a very, very busy day for our members, for the paramedics, for all the firefighters that are out there, the MTO as well, doing their best to to get the roads cleaned up as quickly as possible. Make it safe for everyone, but the responsibility comes down to the drivers.”

Environment Canada has issued a freezing rain warning for eastern Ontario, with up to 10 millimetres of ice accretion possible in Ottawa.

The forecast calls for ice pellets mixed with freezing rain to start at 3 a.m., with freezing rain beginning at 6 a.m.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Jack Richardson