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File photo of an Ontario Provincial Police cruiser.

A 33-year-old transport truck driver from Abbotsford, B.C., has been charged with multiple impaired driving offences after police said his blood-alcohol concentration was nearly three times over the legal limit while hauling a load of dangerous goods on Highway 400 north of Toronto.

Ontario Provincial Police said they responded to calls around 1 p.m. on Dec. 5 that a truck was travelling erratically on Highway 401.

Police said officers managed to stop the vehicle while it was heading north on Highway 400.

“When we have dangerous goods involved, and vehicles driving erratically, that is certainly a concern for us,” OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said in a Periscope video posted on Twitter on Wednesday.

The driver, identified as Iqbal Singh Sidhu, was charged with impaired driving, driving over the legal limit and dangerous driving.

“Thank you for those who saw the vehicle and called 911. Officers were able to locate the vehicle before a collision took place, before someone got hurt. It certainly could have been an absolute tragedy,” Schmidt said.

Provincial police have been warning drivers, especially those who drive transport trucks, of the dangers of impaired driving and inattentive driving following a series of deaths on Ontario roads this year.

Three people were killed last month following a fiery multi-vehicle crash on Highway 400 involving five commercial trucks. The investigation into the cause of the collision is still ongoing.

In October, OPP charged three men with dangerous driving offences in connection to the deaths of six people, including a 14-year-old boy, following three separate roadway collisions this past summer involving commercial vehicles.

“We want to ensure the motoring public that the actions this individual is accused of in no way reflect the professionalism of the hundreds of thousands men and women who operate their trucks in a safe and courteous manner every day,” Stephen Laskowski, president of the Ontario Trucking Association said in a statement to Global News.


Source: Global News