A mother of three is dead and a 37-year-old woman has been arrested for impaired driving following a crash on Highway 404 that police say “should have never happened.”

The crash happened in the northbound lanes of the highway at Aurora Road at around 2:30 a.m.

According to Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Kerry Schmidt, the victim was headed northbound “minding her own business” when another vehicle rear-ended her vehicle from behind while travelling at a high rate of speed.

Schmidt said that both vehicles then lost control, rolled over and ended up in a ditch. He said that the force of the impact was so significant that the deceased was ejected from her vehicle despite wearing a seatbelt. She was subsequently pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the other vehicle, meanwhile, sustained minor injuries and was taken into custody at the scene.

“This is just one of those situations where someone has decided to drink and drive, speed is considered a factor here as well, and someone else has paid with their life,” Schmidt told CP24. “This is just an absolute tragedy that should have never happened.”

The victim in the crash was identified in court documents as 41-year-old Newmarket-resident Jenny Dixon while the person taken into custody has been identified as Shanshan Xia, of Newmarket.

She is facing five charges, including impaired driving causing death and dangerous driving causing death.

Xia appeared in court on Friday wearing a grey sweater and brown slacks. She was released on $50,000 bail and has been ordered to surrender her passport and drivers licence.

Schmidt described the collision as “violent” and said that debris was been spread all over the roadway at one point.

“It is just a heartbreaking thing for us to have to do, to knock on someone’s door and tell them that their loved one is never coming home because of an impaired driver,” he said.

The northbound lanes of Highway 404 were closed between Aurora Road and Mulock Drive but reopened at around 10:30 a.m. after a full reconstruction was conducted.

Xia is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 28.