Man, 45, charged after video shows passenger grabbing cab driver’s steering wheel in Whitby crash

An OPP badge in this undated file image.

Warning: The video attached to this story contains language that some viewers may find offensive.

A 45-year-old man is facing charges after a video surfaced on social media showing a passenger grabbing a cab driver’s steering wheel in an apparent attempt to cause a collision with a tractor-trailer in Whitby earlier this week.

Ontario Provincial Police say the incident happened at rush hour on Wednesday in the area of Highway 412 and Taunton Road.

The cab driver’s dash cam footage was posted to X by 6ixBuzzTV on Thursday.

It shows a man in the passenger seat taking hold of the steering wheel and swerving the cab into the side of a tractor-trailer while it was travelling at nearly 120 km/h.

At that point, the cab driver strikes the man in response before he again clutches onto the steering wheel in another apparent attempt to cause a collision.

This time, what appears to be the cab’s side view mirror flies off before the vehicle rolls to a stop.

Once the vehicle came to a stop the driver is heard questioning the passenger, who exits the cab and jogs across the highway without saying a word. The tractor-trailer drives off before pulling into the shoulder lane a short distance away.

“The video that’s been circulating online certainly speaks for itself, a shocking outcome,” OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt told CTV News Toronto on Friday morning.

Provincial police say no physical injuries were reported as a result of the incident.

“[It’s] certainly something you don’t ever expect to happen and this could’ve ended far more tragically had the outcome of that collision been any different,” Schmidt said.

The front seat passenger is facing charges, including dangerous driving and mischief endangering life.

OPP say the accused remains in custody pending a bail hearing.

“That is a scary situation and it just goes to show the value of having dash cams,” Schmidt said, adding how they can comebe useful to exonerate or explain situations that seem nearly “unbelievable.”

The investigation remains ongoing.

With files from CTV News Toronto’s Beth Macdonell