In what the local media is calling a "bizarre" accident, a 62 year-old woman driving a black Lincoln Navigator (pictured) in downtown Mississauga, Ontario during the evening rush hour crashed into 16 other vehicles like some automotive pinball, finally coming to rest when she hit a pole. Luckily, no one was seriously injured and all were discharged from hospital same-day with only bumps, bruises and scratches (mostly from airbag deployments, police have said).


Peel Regional Police are investigating, but have already ruled out impairment due to alcohol or drugs. The woman, whose name is still unreleased, is said to have no pre-existing medical condition. One wag on a local news site said that she may have been "updating her Facebook status to 'about to have a crash'", but while texting while driving (which is six times more likely to result in a crash compared to drinking and driving) may explain one, or even two of the collisions, it's difficult to see how it could explain away all sixteen.


"It was like something out of Grand Theft Auto", one witness reported to CBC Radio. A CityTV news anchor, somewhat predictably, said that it looked like a movie set. Always with the "it was just like a movie" comments."They couldn't have constructed this in a movie," said one of the drivers who was hit to CityTV News, "Seventeen cars...mine was #13."

But another witness - there were hundreds of them, with lots of high-rise residential buildings and a large suburban mall nearby - provided a possible clue, telling CityTV News "I see this gigantic black SUV start ramming through everyone, reverse back and ram again until...this happened", pointing at the vehicular carnage.


As brake failure obviously might be a cause, police have said the Navigator will undergo a mechanical inspection, likely conducted by the provincial Ministry of Transportation. As of yet, no charges have been laid against the driver of the SUV.

Ironically, the Navigator crashed into a utility pole that had a "No Trucks" sign attached to it.


Photo Credits: The Toronto Sun/QMI Agency.

Sources: The Toronto Sun, CBC Radio, CityTV News, 680 News Radio, The Toronto Star