Alcohol is suspected in a single-vehicle crash that sent two people to hospital and shut down part of a GTA highway for a few hours early Thursday morning.
Ontario Provincial Police spokesman Sgt. Dave Woodford said the driver, a 36-year-old Etobicoke man, was under police guard at Sunnybrook hospital, where he and a passenger were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The man, who survived being partially-ejected through the windshield, was arrested for impaired driving.
He and a 23-year-old Mississauga woman were injured when a Ranger Rover crashed into a guardrail and concrete barrier in Highway 427's northbound express lanes, near Dundas Street West, at about 1:30 a.m.
OPP Sgt. Brad Muir told CP24 both occupants were not wearing a seatbelt, and distracted driving was also a factor in the crash.
Police shut down the northbound express and collectors lanes for an investigation, but the lanes reopened by 4:30 a.m.
OPP are also investigating seatbelt negligence as a factor in an early-morning crash that occurred in Highway 403's eastbound lanes at Wilson Street near Hamilton.
A driver was reportedly ejected from a vehicle that crashed shortly after midnight, resulting in a road closure that lasted several hours.
In a third crash, OPP shut down Highway 401's eastbound lanes near Chatham.
Deadly week on the roads
Thursday's crashes are the latest to occur in what has been an awful week on highways and roads in the Toronto area this week.
On Wednesday morning, a man died in a collision just north of Whitchurch-Stouffville, while a 23-year-old Scarborough woman was killed in a crash on the QEW in Mississauga.
Earlier this week, a 33-year-old woman died after she was hit by a car at Steeles Avenue East and Birchmount Road in Scarborough.
OPP said many fatal crashes involve at least one of the so-called "big four" factors - impaired driving, distracted driving, high speed and seatbelt negligence.
So far in 2012, there has been an increase in fatal crashes involving impaired driving, distracted driving and seatbelt negligence in OPP jurisdiction, while there have been fewer fatal crashes involving high speed.
In response to a sudden surge in fatalities, OPP are again urging motorists to drive responsibly - drive sober, pay attention to the road, buckle up and follow the speed limit - in an attempt to prevent collisions.
With files from CP24's Cam Woolley
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