Ontario Provincial Police reported that, on Dec. 17, a 39-year-old man voluntarily surrendered himself to authorities in connection with a June accident in Whitby that resulted in a fatality. Reportedly, the Highway 401 incident also sent two individuals to the hospital with injuries.
Authorities said that the four-vehicle accident transpired in the highway’s westbound lanes, where a transfer truck operated by the 39-year-old man collided with a Toyota Corolla. Following that collision, two westbound vehicles, a charter bus carrying 38 people and a Pontiac Sunfire, apparently could not be maneuvered in time to avoid becoming involved in the wreck.
Authorities reported that all of the injuries resulting from the Dec. 17 incident, both fatal and nonfatal, were suffered by occupants of the Corolla. Two passengers in the Corolla were transported from the accident scene with major injuries. A third passenger in the Corolla, a 29-year-old Scarborough man, died from his injuries, officials said. Upon turning himself into police, the 39-year-old truck driver was processed and booked on multiple charges, including dangerous driving causing death.
Fatal car accidents may be, to some degree, an inevitable reality of modern life, but that does not mean all accidents are unpreventable. Civil lawyers may prove this point through a wrongful death lawsuit filed in connection with a fatal incident by the family of the decedent.
In order to prevail in the civil claim, the wrongful death lawyer must demonstrate that another party’s actionable conduct, such as drunk driving, texting while behind the wheel or other voluntary behaviors constituting negligence, contributed to the accident in a significant way. If successful, the court will hold the at-fault party financially accountable for the accident, not just to compensate the victim’s family for the undue losses they suffered as a result of their loved one’s wrongful death, but also as a way of passing judgement on the defendant for reproachful conduct.
Source: OurWindsor.ca, "Charges laid in June Hwy. 401 fatal Whitby crash", December 22, 2014