OPP say the fatal collision which involved five cars may have been caused by what is known to police as a “brake check” — an act of retaliation in which a driver deliberately brakes very hard in front of another driver who may be following too closely or who has somehow offended the braking driver. It is a form of road rage. In the terrible pile up Saturday, police belive the driver who caused it sped away as the collision occurred behind him. The suspect vehicle was a dark colour and had a recently registered license plate that may have included the letters #CE, police said. The wreck happened in the Toronto-bound lanes of the QEW, east of Cawthra Road in Mississauga at around 10 p.m. Saturday night. “This crash happened as a result of what may have been an experience of road rage on the highway that did not involve the victims of this crash,” OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said in an update on social media.
CAUSED CHAIN REACTION
Schmidt said that while a total of five vehicles were involved in the collision, there may have been a sixth vehicle that was indirectly involved, triggering a chain reaction. “Investigators now believe that prior to this crash taking place, a vehicle similar to a Honda Civic travelling in the middle lane moved in front of traffic travelling in the left lane and slowed down, applied their brakes and did what they call a ‘brake check’” Schmidt said. “The driver behind that vehicle then slowed as well to avoid a collision, but the ensuing traffic behind these vehicles triggered a multi-vehicle chain reaction. “Four vehicles back, a pickup truck slammed into the back of a Toyota that was carrying three occupants, including Nicole Turcotte, as well as another female passenger in hospital and the male driver.” See post below.
