Two crashes, within minutes of each other, closed down the westbound lanes of Highway 401 at Chatham Tuesday morning.

A fully loaded tractor trailer rolled onto its side, blocking both westbound lanes of the 401 near Highway 40 (Communication Road) this morning shortly after 4 a.m.

The driver was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

A few minutes later, a second crash happened, also in the westbound lanes. A tractor-trailer rear ended another truck that had stopped because of backed up traffic.

The driver of the truck that failed to stop was sent to hospital and charged with careless driving.

The westbound lanes of Highway 401 were closed until approximately noon to clean up the mess.