TORONTO — After four high-profile, truck accidents in eight days last week, the Ontario Safety League is calling for a provincial task force to examine ways of reducing disruptive truck rollovers and crashes.

There were several truck rollovers on Southern Ontario’s 400 series highways last week, two including fatalities and serious injury.

Last Wednesday, a Barrie man was killed in a five-vehicle collision involving two tractor-trailers on Hwy 400. Days before, a man was sent to hospital with severe burns after the truck he was driving rolled over on Hwy 401 near Keele St. spilling hot tar all over the truck cab and pavement.

The other two accidents involved trucks hauling liquid sugar and beverages.
According to Canadian Press, Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield says she plans to meet with the Ontario Trucking Association and other stakeholders to discuss setting upp such a task force.

One issue likely to be discussed is electronic stability devices on tractor-trailer units. Provincial police Sgt. Cam Woolley has already suggested the idea.

However, both Cansfield and Woolley stressed that car drivers making unsafe lane changes near heavy trucks are the biggest problem.

Last week, the Ontario Trucking Association offered to distribute free literature and videos on sharing the roadway with commercial vehicles.