Smithville crash claims two

(Update)

The roads and highways are looking a lot better tonight. Drivers say highway 403 and the main streets in Burlington and Hamilton are clear and dry for the most part. But it’s a different story in the Niagara region. Icy roads contributed to a number of spinouts and crashes – the most serious happened on highway 20 in West Lincoln where two people were killed.

The two people killed were the driver and passenger inside a red Honda. They were unconscious when the first rescue crews arrived from suffering critical head injuries. The passenger
died at the scene. The driver passed away on the way to the trauma unit at Hamilton General Hospital.

Staff Sgt. Dave Hunter of Niagara Regional Police said: “One other driver has been taken to hospital with serious injuries.”

That driver was in a silver car that was heading south on highway 20 near Smithville when it clipped the front of an oncoming pickup. The pickup spun around. Then the Honda slammed into it. The two people in the pickup were taken to hospital but were not seriously injured.

Staff Sgt. Hunter said: “Our accident re-construction team has to determine what happened in order to determine the cause.”

One of the things investigators are looking at is how slippery the road was. Neighbours who live out here say the roads were really icy Thursday morning. But there have been ice related crashes all across Niagara today.”

There were pileups on the highway ramps. people putting their cars into ditches.

Police have not yet released the names of the people who died in the fatal crash or where they were from.