Over the Victoria Day long weekend, a vehicle collided with a moose in Algonquin Park, seriously injuring both occupants inside the car and leaving one with life-threatening injuries.
The motorists hit the moose while driving along Highway 60 near Tea Lake in the early hours of the morning on May 19. “After striking the moose, the car left the roadway and struck a tree,” OPP said in a news release.
When two Muskoka Paramedic Service ambulances arrived at the scene around 1 a.m., one ambulance also collided with the moose, leaving the vehicle “extensively damaged.” The OPP reports no injuries were sustained in the second collision.
The motorists from the first collision were taken to a hospital in Huntsville, Ont. The critically injured passenger, a 40-year-old woman from Quebec, was transferred to a Toronto trauma centre, police said. The other passenger, a 45-year-old-male also from Quebec, remained in stable condition in Huntsville.
A stretch of Highway 60 near the collision was closed while officers conducted an investigation. The moose unfortunately perished in the accident, but the focus has remained on the well-being of the humans involved in the crash, says Bill Dickson, media relations coordinator for the OPP East Region.
The officers who responded to the May 19 incident had just come from another vehicle collision involving a moose.
In the news release, OPP stated these incidents could, in part, be tied to bug season: “The OPP warns motorists that an increasing number of moose have been coming out of the forest and onto roads, particularly in the area of Algonquin Park, in an effort to escape from swarms of insects.”
Dickson says this isn’t unusual. “We’ve been seeing deer venture out onto roadways as well. It’s not uncommon for the season in these areas.”
Police encourage drivers to adhere to speed limits and keep their eyes on the road and ditches ahead for wildlife.
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