A taxi driver was killed in a crash on Highway 427 in northwest Toronto early Sunday morning.

The driver had stopped his car — which was experiencing mechanical problems — on the southbound lane of the highway near the Eglinton Avenue W. exit at around 3:45 a.m., said the Ontario Provincial Police.

He was standing outside the taxi when it was hit from behind by a sport utility vehicle.

The taxi driver was also hit and died at the scene. Police have not released any further details, including the identity of the killed driver.

Drivers are often encouraged to stay in their vehicles in the event of a breakdown on the highway. But OPP Const. Graham Williamson said it's not that simple.

"It's a difficult thing. You can't really give general information … because every situation has its own individual conditions and merits," he told CBC News. "In a case like this, perhaps it may have been more prudent to leave the vehicle, I don't know. And in other situations, it may have been more prudent to stay in the vehicle."

Two southbound lanes on Highway 427 and the exits at Eglinton Avenue were closed for several hours Sunday morning as police investigated, but have since reopened.