On an early Saturday morning in Malahide Township, just to the north of Aylmer, Ontario, a severe collision resulted in four individuals being hurriedly rushed to the nearby hospital. Thankfully, their injuries, though significant, were not deemed life-threatening.
The cause of the impending chaos was twofold: A pickup truck and a car, both teetering at an alarming speed of approximately 80 km/h, crashed into each other at the intersection of Imperial Road and Lyons Line. Stop signs at this crossroads mark the east-west passage on Lyons Line, seemingly ignored by both vehicles.
The tussettling impact of the collision led to the pickup truck being fiercely propelled against a hydro pole, snapping it in half. Despite the alarming sight, the built-in safety measures of the vehicle were activated as planned, with airbags promptly deploying in response to the abrupt collision.
Responding to the calamity was a legion of emergency teams – including Elgin, Oxford and Middlesex EMS, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), and the local Malahide Fire department, led by their chief, Jeff Spoor. According to Spoor, the dangerously dangling hydro lines and extensive infrastructure damage to the pole resulted in the road’s closure for a majority of the day.
Hydro One trucks promptly arrived at the scene, but their job was delayed; the obstructing pickup truck had to be entirely removed before any repairs could commence on the pole.
Disturbingly, Chief Spoor noted that an eerily similar crash had occurred at the very same intersection earlier in the summer. Despite the severity of the collisions, hopes remain high that a repeat incident can be avoided in the future.