A motorcyclist has died after he slammed into the back of a dump truck on Highway 407 in Pickering early Monday morning.
The crash took place in a westbound lane of the highway, just west of Brock Road, sometime before 7:30 a.m.
“Apparently there were three dump trucks in a line that were all entering into a construction zone in the median between the east and westbound lanes,” Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Kerry Schmidt told CTV News Toronto.
“As those vehicles were transitioning from the right shoulder to the left, the collision took place as a motorcycle approached from behind.”
Despite life-saving efforts by paramedics, the rider died at the scene. Schmidt later identified him a 38-year-old man from Whitby.
Police closed all westbound lanes on the highway at Brock Road for several hours while they assessed the scene.
Video from the CTV News Chopper shortly after the crash showed a large stretch of traffic backed up in the westbound lanes.
The roadway reopened at around 1:30 p.m.
Investigators have not yet been able to determine how fast the trucks and motorcycle were going when the crash took place, but Schmidt said the Ministry of Labour has been notified of the incident.
A number of witnesses were interviewed at the scene, including one of the dump truck drivers.
“Motorcyclists are small, they’re hard to see sometimes, they’re vulnerable and sadly when you have a motorcycle collision with any other type of vehicle, particularly a dump truck, it’s usually going to be the motorcycle that’s going to pay the highest price,” Schmidt said.