A motorist accused of hitting a mother who was cycling on a cycle path was very tired and went for a coffee, a woman heard at the start of a trial this Monday.
• Read more: Call to share the road after his mother’s death
“She told me she was very tired and she was going to Tim Hortons to get an iced cappuccino,” Kathleen Crawford testified in a Montreal court this Monday.
On May 18, 2021, the woman testified at the trial of Christine Pride, a resident of L’Île-Bizard, accused of causing the death of Irene Dehem.
That day, the 50-year-old biostatistician was riding on the cycle path in the Chennyville sector when, after work, a motorist veered off his path and hit the woman on a curve.
“The car ended up in a little ditch,” testified Mrs. Crawford, who was passing by at the time of the tragedy. I went to see [la cycliste] To check her pulse… I don’t think she’s alive. At the request of the 911 dispatcher, I attempted CPR. »
On the way to Tim Hortons
As evidenced by the events, the woman later described the injuries noted on Ms Dehem’s body, and it seemed she had no chance.
Bright, for his part, remained in his blue Hyundai Accent.
“She kept telling me to go for help [la cycliste]She seemed to be in shock, she was crying and shaking,” said the witness.
Immediately, Bright told the woman she was “very tired” and was going to get coffee.
To me, the Crown’s Anick Archambault justifies the fact that Bright would have taken the wheel despite being fatigued and after taking anti-anxiety medication to bring charges of dangerous driving and criminal negligence causing death.
Asleep at the wheel
In addition to speaking with the witness, Bright told a police officer that he had “slept badly the previous day” and that the purpose of going for coffee was to wake up. To a paramedic, Bright said he had “fallen asleep at the wheel.”
Nothing in the evidence indicates that alcohol, cell phones while driving or illegal drugs played a role in the collision.
Bright, represented by Me Jessy Héroux, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The trial, before Judge Dennis Kaliatsatos, will last two weeks.
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