Despite a closed circuit camera system that monitors Ontario's highways with more than 300 cameras, there is no video showing a dump truck striking the Burlington Skyway's iron structure, a collision which snarled traffic for four days on the eve of the August long weekend.

The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) says the video simply doesn't exist.

Responding to a freedom of information request asking for video of both the accident, as well as when the transport truck raised its bed before hitting the iron superstructure, the MTO says the COMPASS camera system only records footage on a six-second loop, and doesn't have video of the collision.

"While footage from each MTO COMPASS camera is streamed live on the Ministry's website, the system only records footage from each camera on a rotational basis at 6-second increments; therefore not all incidents are recorded," wrote Gerry Chaput, assistant deputy minister of provincial highways management, on behalf of the MTO.

Truck driver back in court Friday to face impaired driving charges

On July 31, a dump truck drove with it's bed raised on the Burlington Skyway, hitting the iron superstructure over the bridge, forcing the closure of the Toronto-bound lanes for four days, ahead of a busy long weekend which included Caribana, Toronto's annual Caribbean festival. The Skyway, which acts as a crucial link for Hamilton commuters as well as traffic between the U.S. border, Niagara and Toronto areas, is used by roughly 75,000 cars on Toronto-bound lanes daily.

The dump truck that struck the Burlington Skyway bridge had it's bucket raised as it slammed into the bridge's overhead steel trusses and girders. (Ontario Provincial Police) Sukhvinder Singh Rai, a 34-year-old Brampton man, has been charged with impaired driving and blood alcohol level exceeding 80 milligrams while operating a motor vehicle.

Rai will appear in a Hamilton court Friday. His licence was suspended for 90 days following the crash, and his lawyer said in August he plans to plead not guilty.

The court will not, however, have access to any video which would show how long the dump truck's bucket was raised for, or if any attempt was made to lower the bed prior to impact.

Cameras watched, but not recorded

MTO spokesperson Astrid Poei said the COMPASS system is set up to redirect commuters and emergency responders. Attendants at the Toronto-base command centre watch six-seconds of video from a feed before rotating onto a new camera. If they spot an accident, they'll inform emergency responders of the exact location and change traffic signs to warn drivers. It's not, however, set up to provide video replay, Poei said.

Asked if the ministry would consider recording video, even if it was only held for a day, Poei was blunt.

"No. Because our cameras are used to direct first responders… and to help direct traffic," Poei said.

As for when the truck raised its bed, Poei said the compass cameras would not have caught that event, but she said the truck would have passed through four sensors to detect a height warning before the truck drove onto the Skyway to prevent this exact event.

"There are two systems, four sensors. So there were four opportunities and all four (sensors) were working at the time of the crash," Poei said.