Police officers were not at fault for a collision that left an 18-year-old woman with broken ribs and serious internal injuries, Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has determined.
The 18-year-old was a passenger in a vehicle that was being pulled over by an Ontario Provincial Police officer on Highway 401 near Sweaburg Road, outside Woodstock, last November.
Police said at the time that the vehicle had become involved in a three-vehicle collision while officers were trying to pull it over.
The SIU’s report, a summary of which was released Monday morning, sheds more light on the exact events.
According to the report, the woman had been in a Toyota Corolla seen driving on the highway at more than 150 km/h.
The Corolla complied with the officer’s attempt to stop it, but it and the police cruiser ended up pulled over on opposite sides of the highway – separated by three live lanes of traffic.
The SIU says the Corolla then tried to move to the other side of the highway, where it was hit by two passing vehicles.
Offences of dangerous driving and criminal negligence causing death were considered by the SIU, but their investigation found that no charges were warranted.
Acting SIU director Joseph Martino concluded that the officer tried to stop the Corolla safely, and the responsibility for getting to the other side of the highway safely rested with the Corolla’s driver.
“She fell short in that duty by failing to keep a proper lookout and performing a dangerous maneuver into live lanes of traffic,” Martino said.
“It appears there was little if anything the subject officer could have done to prevent the collision.”
In addition to the 18-year-old passenger, four other people were hospitalized as a result of the crash. None of them received serious injuries.
