Wayward Missile Launchers Pulled Over By Ontario Police
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Kate | Friday, December 2, 2005 |
CP;
The army is looking into a bizarre incident in which a tractor-trailer loaded with anti-aircraft missile launchers was seen rolling down a major Ontario highway.
Several police cruisers were needed to pull over the vehicle as it travelled westbound on Highway 407 near Toronto. The trailer was carrying two armoured personnel carriers bearing Department of National Defence licence plates and loaded with anti-aircraft missile launchers.
Police say the carriers, formerly registered to the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, were supposed to be delivered to Montreal on Thursday.
Police took the driver into custody at the scene, and the armoured carriers have been taken to a storage depot. A spokeswoman for the Department of National Defence says the army is investigating.
“Formerly registered”?
Update - Toronto Star has more details. The driver was “confused”. You don’t say!
About the Author: Kate is a freelance commercial and automotive airbrush artist living in Saskatchewan, Canada. She was one of the original guest bloggers at OTB in November 2004 and soon joined the permanent stable, contributing through January 2007.
Eventually, she turned to writing full time at her own blog, small dead animals, which was voted the Best Canadian Blog in the 2004 Weblog Awards and has been generally considered that country's best blog ever since.
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Considering the the Canadians don't have a military force of their own, these armored personnel carriers were probably surplus to requirements and being transported to a used car lot for resale.
If I'm not mistaken, Highway 407 is a toll road, is all electronic passport, and is designed for GTA commuters.
It gets better. According to their website's FAQ;
. It is mandatory for all vehicles with a Gross Weight or Registered Gross Weight over 5,000 kilograms (five tonnes) to have a valid heavy vehicle transponder. For transport vehicles without a heavy vehicle transponder, the trailer licence plate will be captured by the video imaging equipment and billed to registered owner of the trailer licence plate. Heavy vehicles without transponders are also subject to a fine under the Highway 407 Act when stopped by Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) or Ministry of Transportation (MTO) Enforcement Officers. 407 ETR will also charge a $50 video toll charge per trip, plus all tolls, fees and interest. The monthly bill is due upon mailing.
It's a sure bet he didn't have the electronic tag, which are copmparable to the EZ-Pass used here over most of the northeast, and in Chicago. Without a tag he was bound to get stopped by the toll hungry owners of the 407. It's likley the only reason the guy got stopped.
Now, with this added info, here's the grand prize question; how the hell did this rig get into that situation?
As to the question about what they were about in Montreal, my guess is the cutter's torch awaited them.
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