A former Sudbury resident, Paul Leblanc, 38, was killed in a truck accident at the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia.
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He was driving shortly before midnight last Sunday night when he slammed into the back of a stopped tanker truck waiting for clearance at the bridge border crossing.
The chain-reaction accident, which involved a third vehicle, was the subject of an emergency meeting Monday morning by Sarnia bridge authorities.
LeblancÂ?s accident is the 27th collision on Highway 402 since January caused by vehicle backups on the bridge.
The crossing from Highway 402 via Sarnia to Port Huron, Mich., is particularly heavy for truckers. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, heightened security alerts in the U.S. can bog down customs on the American side.
Â?We canÂ?t undo what was done the other night, sadly, but we hope we can do something to prevent that from happening in the future,Â? said David
Bradley, president of the Ontario Trucking Association.
Leblanc was rushed to hospital in critical condition. He died soon after.
He leaves his wife of 14 years, Nicole, and two daughters Janelle, 9, and Micheline, 16.
The family receive friends at the Co-Operative Funeral Home Friday, and Leblanc was buried Saturday, following a funeral at St. Dominique Church.
His parents are Marthe and Earnest Blais of Sudbury, and Ralph Leblanc of New Brunswick. Brother Danny lives in Sudbury.
Leblanc was a truck driver with Homes Freight Lines in Brampton.
The Leblanc family moved to St. Catharines in 1997.
Leblanc enjoyed playing hockey until 1994 when he broke two legs in a construction accident. He could no longer play hockey and was unable to pursue his dream to be a police officer, his wife told the St. Catharines Standard.
He learned how to drive trucks for a living and moved to southern Ontario.
Bridge officials have developed an action plan, including: lowering the speed limit approaching the bridge; installing rumble strips on the 402 to alert
drivers, and fixing an overhead warning light that isnÂ?t working. The plan will be presented to the Ministry of Transportation.
The 47-year-old driver of a tanker, an Illinois man, was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A third driver didnÂ?t need medical
attention. While police were probing the crash, there was a second collision involving two vehicles on Highway 402 east.
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