Car crash leaves former OHL goaltender dead

We regret to announce the passing of John Chartrand at the age of 24 due to injuries sustained in an automobile accident on the 401 Friday. Chartrand played four seasons in the OHL with the Niagara IceDogs, Barrie Colts and the Belleville Bulls.

From what first responders say, at around 3 a.m, the 24-year old man reportedly slammed into the back of a tractor trailer in the eastbound collector lanes of highway 401 near Victoria Park Avenue. The truck driver was seen by paramedics but was not taken to hospital.

John was the only occupant of his car and was pronounced dead on scene. The police continue to investigate on what caused the accident. On the police report, it has been stated that the driver of the truck slowed down for a construction zone when he was rear-ended by the car.

The eastbound collector lanes of Highway 401 were closed at Highway 404 but they reopened at around 8:45 a.m.

Highway 401 is one of Canada's most notorious highway. The highway was nicknamed Carnage Alley in the 1990's due to numerous crashes. On the first morning of Labour Day weekend in 1999, it saw the worst pileup in Canada history. In very dense fog, he pileup involved 87 vehicles and left 8 people dead and 45 injured.

On January 25, we witnessed a 80 vehicle pileup where 5 people were injured.