Driver charged after police pull over badly damaged tractor trailer on Hwy. 17

The driver of a tractor-trailer who hit a rock cut on Highway 17 on Tuesday tried to keep going rather than stopping and reporting the accident.

That led to a flood of complaints about the commercial vehicle, which was damaged somewhere between Wawa and Sault Ste. Marie in the early afternoon.

“Ontario Provincial Police responded to multiple traffic complaints in relation to a tractor-trailer travelling eastbound on Highway 17 with its trailer wall damaged and split in the Iron Bridge area,” police said in a news release Wednesday.

“Police located the vehicle on Causley Street in the Town of Blind River and initiated a traffic stop. Officers observed the trailer wall to have considerable damage on the left side.”

Officers determined the transport had slid sideways and hit a rock cut, but the driver didn’t report the accident.

As a result, a 50-year-old driver from Kitchener was charged with failing to report an accident, driving with an insecure load and driving a commercial motor vehicle with a major defect in it.

The driver of a tractor-trailer who hit a rock cut on Highway 17 on Tuesday tried to keep going. Officers determined the transport had slid sideways and hit a rock cut, but the driver didn’t report the accident. (OPP photos)

“The commercial motor vehicle trailer was escorted to a local parking lot at the east end of Causley Street and taken off the road,” police said.

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