18 drivers ticketed for using cellphone at highway crash scene

Police say 18 drivers were ticketed for using their phones to video a serious crash on Highway 401 on Saturday morning.

Lennox and Addington County Provincial Police say they were called to a crash involving a transport truck and a tanker on the westbound portion of the highway at Shannonville Road, east of Belleville.

Aside from dealing with the crash, officers were also kept busy handing out tickets to motorists who they say used their cellphones to take video as they passed through the scene.

“It was quite the sight,” police said in a post on X, adding that 18 drivers — including two transport truck drivers — were given $615 fines for using their cellphones while operating their vehicle.

“Focus on the road,” police said. “Your attentiveness to driving helps keep emergency workers safe at these scenes.”

Police say roads in the area were reopened shortly after 1:30 p.m.