A provincial police officer has been taken to hospital after his cruiser was hit on the Queen Elizabeth Way in St. Catharines.
Shortly before noon on Tuesday, Sgt. Scott Whitehorne was responding to a disabled vehicle on the Garden City Skyway Bridge in the Toronto-bound lanes when his cruiser was hit from behind.
The officer was inside the vehicle at the time.
OPP media officer Kerry Schmidt said the cruiser’s lights were flashing, and a Ministry of Transportation truck was on scene.
OPP say Whitehorne was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
Recent changes to the Highway Traffic Act require drivers to slow down and move over once it’s safe to do so as they approach emergency vehicles pulled over on the side of the road.
Schmidt said Tuesday’s collision is a textbook example of why the act was changed. He said such collisions should not occur.
“There’s no reason for drivers not to see the pulled over police car with the lights flashing,” he said. “Every driver needs to pay attention when they’re driving and look where they’re going.”
Charges are pending for the driver of the vehicle once the investigation is complete, police said.
With files from The Canadian Press
Source: The Hamilton Spectator