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401 back to normal after day of bottlenecks
Driver of truck carrying garbage reportedly facing charge of careless driving


CURTIS RUSH
STAFF REPORTER THESTAR.COM

The westbound express lanes of Highway 401 at Yonge Street were reopened about 5:30 this afternoon after a day of bottlenecks and confusion caused by a crash involving two transport trucks early this morning. Meantime, Ontario Environment Minister Leona Dombrowsky says she is concerned that truck drivers hauling garbage to Michigan may be working longer hours than they should and she wants to discuss the situation with Transportation Minister Harinder Takhar.
Driver fatigue is being blamed for the fiery collision on Highway 401 at 3:30 a.m. today that caused commuter chaos all day long.

The truck driver carrying the garbage westbound has been charged with careless driving and failing to wear a seat belt following the collision with a paint truck that shut down the highway at Yonge St. for most of the day.

The charges - were little comfort for the thousands of commuters who showed up late for work this morning.

Dombrowski said today that "we want to make sure that those regulations are being adhered to and there is monitoring to ensure that the risk of this kind of event is minimized" with respect to drivers not working while fatigued, radio station CFRB reported.

It was the paint, mixed with diesel fuel, that set off the fiery explosion in which flames were sent 30 metres into the sky. The fire burned for about two hours.

The salvage operation was made more difficult by the fact that the area was already a construction zone in the westbound lanes and the accident happened on a bridge, about 70 metres above the Don River Valley.