One witness said it was a “Christmas miracle” after no one was seriously injured after several vehicles struck a tire on Highway 401 at Port Hope on Monday, December 16, 2019.
Northumberland OPP, Port Hope Fire Department and Northumberland County Paramedics were dispatched to the area of the eastbound lanes of Highway 401 just west of the Cranberry Road overpass.
It appears the rear wheel of a commercial van came off and went into the lanes of traffic.
At least three vehicles may have struck the wheel.
A SUV flipped approximately five times after striking the wheel on the highway.
Two people were in the SUV and their dog may have been thrown from the vehicle.
Brianna Saccary (age 18) was with her brother, sister and four-month old nephew in a pickup truck on their way home to Colborne after visiting their grandmother in Oshawa when they were involved in the collision.
“I saw it flying towards us and it was pretty scary.”
“The tire hit the other car, they started flipping. They went up on their hood, spun a bit and started flipping. The tire went back and we hit it and flew over it.”
Saccary had just finished her first semester of practical nursing rushed over to the SUV that was upside down in the middle lane of the highway just in front of their vehicle.
The couple in the SUV were hanging upside down by their seatbelts, but were just climbing out when Saccary rushed to the scene.
“She was mostly worried about her dog.”
The husband was bleeding from the hand and his wife was in shock.
“I kept telling her everything was going to be ok.”
Saccary believes their dog got ejected and ran up onto a nearby embankment.
The dog was bleeding and transported to a veterinarian in Peterborough.
The couple were transported to Northumberland Hills Hospital with what are believed to be minor injuries.
Another driver who also hit the runaway wheel stopped just east of the Cranberry Road overpass. It’s believed she was transported to hospital as well with minor injuries.
Two lanes of the highway were blocked while Technical Traffic Collision Investigators examined the scene.
“Not a lot of people can say they rolled their car and got out in one piece. Considering all of them got out with minor injuries, we got out with minor injuries – it is a Christmas miracle.”
In a bizarre incident while police were examining the scene and traffic was stopped, a transport backed into a stopped vehicle four times while waiting to proceed through the only open lane of the highway.
Kimberly Ward was driving with a passenger and tells Today’s Northumberland they were stopped.
“I didn’t know if it was an accident up ahead or what because previous to that the sign said the right lane closed.”
A transport truck which was in the middle lane, merged into Ward’s lane just ahead of her and stopped.
“I saw him coming back into me and I blarred on the horn and then he hit me. Then he went forward again, then came back again and I blarred on the horn – and he did it four times and that pushed me into the car behind me.”
“I was hitting the horn and hitting the guy behind me. I could hear their horns going – he just never stopped.”
Ward said, “it almost looked like he was trying to shift gears. He would go forward, stop, then come back.”
Both people in the vehicle were frantic with fear about what was happening.
Ward’s vehicle was hit so hard, so many times, it pushed her vehicle sideways.
“When he hit me sideways it was just like slow motion.”
With another woman in the passenger side, the transport was hitting her side door.
“She was screaming – that was really scary.”
Her vehicle appears to have sustained thousands of dollars in damage to the front, side and back of the 2014 Rav.
The investigation into both collisions are continuing. No word about charges at this point.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
