Several people were injured, two of them critically, after a pickup truck was struck by one of two cars that police say were racing along a highway in Scarborough. The crash brought a busy stretch of road to a halt and left investigators piecing together a high-speed collision that authorities say began as a race between two vehicles on a public highway.
Toronto police responded to the collision on Highway 2A near Meadowvale Road in the morning. According to police, a Mercedes and a green Lamborghini were racing along the highway when the crash unfolded, drawing officers to a scene that would leave two people fighting for their lives and prompt a search for one of the drivers involved.
Police described a chain of events that ended in violence. They say the Mercedes lost control and struck a white pickup truck as the truck was merging, then went off the road and hit a tree. The force of the impact scattered the vehicles across the roadway and underscored the danger of the speeds at which police say the cars had been traveling.
One of the drivers did not stay to face the consequences. According to police, the driver of the Lamborghini allegedly fled the scene after the collision, leaving officers to search for the vehicle and the person behind the wheel. The hit-and-run element added a criminal dimension to what was already a serious crash.
The most seriously hurt were in the Mercedes. Police say the 15-year-old female driver and a 24-year-old male passenger were rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries. The age of the driver, still in her teens, added to the gravity of a case that police were treating as a life-and-death situation in its immediate aftermath.
Others caught up in the crash were more fortunate. A 44-year-old man and an 11-month-old infant who were in the pickup truck were taken to hospital with minor injuries, a relief given how easily the collision could have turned deadly for the occupants of the vehicle that was simply merging when it was hit.
The investigation remained active as officers worked to locate the Lamborghini and its driver. The crash added to long-standing concerns about street racing on public roads, where the combination of high speeds and other traffic can turn an ordinary drive into a catastrophe for people who had no part in the race.