TORONTO, Ont. — A tanker rollover yesterday morning which spilled nearly 40 tonnes of hot tar and closed a section of Hwy. 401 for the entire day has OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley calling for the use of electronic stability control systems on heavy-duty trucks.

“I think there’s technology there that can help us,” Sgt. Cam Woolley told local media yesterday. Electronic stability systems have been increasingly common on heavy trucks. They sense when a truck is on the brink of a rollover and apply the correct braking pressure to each wheel end, in most cases keeping the dirty side down.

Woolley said the truck involved in yesterdays accident took the curve too fast, and that an electronic stability control system could have intervened and prevented the accident. The driver, who was covered with tar and entrapped in his truck for about an hour, is expected to survive the ordeal.

The carrier he drove for may have good reason to consider electronic stability control systems on future truck purchases. Ontarios Transport Ministry expects the carrier will receive a cleanup bill of more than $100,000.