Wine-filled tanker truck tips over on Highway 401
The eastbound lanes of Highway 401 between Highway 6 south and Guelph line have finally reopened after a collision involving an SUV, a pickup truck, and a transport truck filled with wine caused quite the mess overnight.
According to police, the collision happened just before 10 p.m. Thursday night and was caused by impaired driving — which is just slightly ironic considering the biggest casualty of the accident was likely (and fortunately) the large amount of wine being carried by the tanker truck.
A tanker truck filled with wine collided with the SUV. The tanker rolled over on #Hwy 401 westbound near # hwy 6 south. Minor injuries at this time. Investigation is under way. Clean up will be extensive. 401 eastbound #CambridgeOPP #MississuagaOPP # HaltonEMS # MiltonFire ^td pic.twitter.com/6AZfX5TVy7
— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) February 5, 2021
"The collision involved an SUV that was apparently blocking a live line on the 401 westbound lanes, and was struck from behind by an approaching pickup truck and, as a result from that collision, cut off another transport truck that was also approaching," said Sgt. Kerry Schmidt in a statement on social media earlier Friday morning.
"That transport truck ended up into the centre median and rolled over onto its side, blocking both eastbound and westbound lanes, sending debris and concrete flying across all lanes."
Police shared multiple updates as cleaning was underway overnight, and photos and videos show heavy snow falling as workers do everything in their power to get the lanes reopened as quickly as possible.
Update 3 #Hwy401 westbound east of hwy 6 south. Clean up continues! pic.twitter.com/cDY7dB8Y0g
— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) February 5, 2021
The lanes officially reopened around 9 a.m. Friday morning and thankfully no serious injuries have been reported, though it remains unclear how much of the wine, if any, was salvaged from the crash.
Update: #Hwy401 EB reopening now https://t.co/JQ7weldKEs
— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) February 5, 2021
"Investigations are ongoing and the driver of that initial SUV has been charged with impaired driving. [They] refused to provide a breath sample or a test for impairment," said Schmidt.
"It has been a long night with heavy recovery teams on scene cleaning up that tanker truck that was loaded, apparently, with wine."
And while photos of the accident do appear quite serious, many social media users simply couldn't resist putting their pun skills to the test in response to the news.
Nothing to wine about there eh hope all are ok 👍
— derek rutledge (@buttzfly) February 5, 2021
Some residents even offered to help with the cleanup.
I'm in !🍷
— karen harrison (@karenha423) February 5, 2021
While others offered creative cleanup suggestions.
Glad everyone is safe ❤❤❤ .. use glasses for clean up :)
— Nicole (@ndmccormac) February 5, 2021
And though the many motorists who were forced to sit in traffic for hours due to road closures probably don't have quite the same sense of humour about the whole situation, hopefully they treated themselves to a well-deserved glass of wine when they finally got home.
