No charges will be brought against a truck driver who fatally struck a 22-year-old woman in Montreal last summer. And the Société de l'Assurance Automobile du Québec (SAAQ) doesn't plan to use most of the coroner's recommendations.
On June 22, Dylan Gaya was tragically killed when he was hit by a heavy truck at the corner of rue Belaire and 22 while crossing pedestrians.e Avenue, in the Saint-Michel district.
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Dilan Gaya cutting site, June 22, 2023
In a report on the case, coroner Jean Brochu concluded the collision was accidental, recalling that the victim was in the truck's blind spot and that he “didn't look in the direction before the truck passed.” . In fact, at the time of impact, the young woman was a meter away from the pedestrian crossing, with her back to the truck.
However, Mr. Brochu added.
Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) confirmed Pres No charges will be filed against the driver in the coming days, without further details being released. The reasons for this decision are not known. “DPCP does not hold any public information regarding this incident,” said its spokesperson Ms.e Audrey Roy-Cloutier.
Many recommendations
A number of recommendations were made by the coroner, including two major recommendations for the SAAQ. It was suggested that consideration should be given to mandating the installation of “penetrable flashing lights” on the front of heavy vehicles and an external audible alarm to alert vulnerable road users nearby.
Another solution is anti-mirrors on trucks and “detection systems for pedestrians and cyclists”, in other words, “cameras and sound alarms”. […] The coroner suggested that the driver should be alerted to the presence of pedestrians or cyclists.
In response to the coroner's recommendations, the SAAQ said that if sound devices in heavy vehicles prove “effective” in warning a vulnerable user of the intention to back off or turn, “many vehicles with such a signal result in this signal being insignificant.”
The organization even fears that it will “distract some vulnerable users” and create “another security issue.”
Hearing pollution is a source of complaints from people. Regarding the requirement of strobe lights on the front of heavy vehicles, the increase in the number of vehicles equipped with these devices may reduce the attention paid to such vehicles by various road users. light type.
Genevieve Perron, spokeswoman for SAAQ
As for the second recommendation, the installation of rear-view mirrors and the addition of detection systems for pedestrians and cyclists, or even cameras and sound alarms in the cabin of heavy vehicles, “their implementation should fully harmonize the requirements with other North American administrations,” says Mme Peron.
Furthermore, these devices “can quickly become useless in certain conditions (rain, snow, dirt, etc.),” especially since “various technologies for identifying vulnerable users are not yet standardized and their effectiveness is not fully understood.”
These technologies can have “mixed effects on driver awareness and distraction”, says the SAAQ, which says it is in the process of preparing a guide to the use of windscreens to strictly guide the industry. Vehicles, among others.
Municipal concerns
Metropolitan councilor Sylvain Ouellet thinks it's “a bit unusual that SAAQ doesn't try to get rid of the most serious problems at the source first.” “We're not on a construction site or a highway, we're in a residential environment. There should be no blind spots in restricted areas, and above all, it's not normal to allow trucks to drive at speeds that shouldn't be allowed,” he laments.
Photo by Josie Desmarais, La Presse Archives
There is a day care center opposite the place where Dilan Gaya lost her life.
According to him, the fact that the trucker had no real consequences “doesn't help.”
I'm sure someone with a hunting or firearms license would be prosecuted if an incident occurred. I wonder why such a double standard.
Sylvain Oulet, District Councilor in Villeray-Saint-Michel-Park-Extension
In addition to continuing awareness measures, the post-mortem report also had a third recommendation: mandatory installation of “Caution, Blind Spots” warning stickers on heavy vehicles.
In this regard, the SAAQ states that it will “follow the guidance of Transport Canada and our Canadian counterparts on this matter.”
Every year, raising awareness about heavy vehicle blind spots is a priority, and “various ways are used to create awareness among people about sharing the road with heavy vehicles, such as virtual reality. The question of blind spots and right turns.”
Year after year, road inspectors “make sure to raise awareness among users through preventive measures, making it possible to demonstrate the dangers caused by blind spots around heavy vehicles using red carpets,” concludes Genevieve Perron.
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