Ontario police count hundreds of car crashes after mega winter storm

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) say they have dealt with hundreds of collisions in the last 24 hours alone, placing blame on the mega winter storm that dumped at least 15 centimetres on Toronto.

Posting a video to their Twitter account, the OPP Highway Safety Division shows just one of the hundreds of cars disabled during the storm, pulled from a ditch in one of many similar situations that have occurred since the snow began to fall yesterday evening.

Another car in the snow bank, about 200 collisions in the past 24 hours. #OnStorm #DriveSafe. pic.twitter.com/rqFGu7dAOf

— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) February 23, 2023

The division says they've counted around 200 collisions across Ontario, a number that will probably increase as the morning continues.

"Traffic is getting heavier, we're dealing with winter weather, collisions are coming in a lot quicker right now as a result of people getting out and trying to get to work or wherever they're heading off to," said OPP Sergeant Kerry Schmidt in a separate video, posted two hours ago.

Traffic is building and crashes are increasing, please be careful and drive safe. pic.twitter.com/W9aMn2LUS8

— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) February 23, 2023

Another collision was documented on the OPP's account this morning, on Highway 403 at Eglinton, where two pickup trucks appeared to crash; no injuries were reported.

Collision #Hwy403/Eglinton. 2 pickup trucks involved in a collision, no injuries. #OnStorm. #MississaugaOPP pic.twitter.com/HFeO8JM7jE

— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) February 23, 2023

That was just one of hundreds, with video evidence of collisions or near-accidents plastered across social media.

"Please be careful out there, the roads are still slippery, they have been plowed," Schmidt said.

Over in Toronto, cars were documented stuck on snowy hills and slippery road conditions were reported until plows came out.

Hey #Toronto. Tonight's weather may make roads slippery. We'll be doing our best to keep roads safe and passable, but surfaces may be icy and slippery so please, be careful and stay back from and do not pass snow clearing vehicles. Let them do their work safely and efficiently.

— City of Toronto (@cityoftoronto) February 22, 2023

A bit more snow is forecast for Thursday evening, but it appears the worse of the storm is now over.