No charges will ultimately be brought against the truck driver who fatally struck a 22-year-old young woman last summer in Montreal, despite the fact that he failed to stop at a mandatory stop and was driving in a zone prohibited to trucks. And the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) does not plan to apply most of the coroner’s recommendations.
On June 22, while taking a pedestrian crossing, Dilan Kaya was fatally struck by a heavy truck at the corner of rue Bélair and 22e Avenue, in the Saint-Michel district.
INFOGRAPHICS THE PRESS
The place where Dilan Kaya was mowed down, June 22, 2023
In a report on this case, coroner Jean Brochu concluded that it was an accidental collision, recalling that the victim was in the blind spot of the truck and that she did not “look in the direction from which the truck was coming before to cross “. In fact, at the time of impact, the young woman had her back to the truck and was one meter into the pedestrian crossing.
Mr. Brochu added, however, that several other factors had contributed to the accident, including the fact that “the truck did not come to a complete stop on rue Bélair” and that it “was in a prohibited zone to trucks.”
The Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) confirmed to The Press in recent days that no charges will be brought against the driver, without giving further details. It was impossible to know the reasons behind this decision. “The DPCP does not hold any public information relating to this event,” limited itself to saying its spokesperson, Ms.e Audrey Roy-Cloutier.
Several recommendations
Several recommendations were made by the coroner, including the two main ones for the SAAQ. It was suggested that consideration should be given to making it compulsory to install “penetrating flashing lights” at the front of heavy vehicles as well as an external audible alarm to notify vulnerable road users nearby.
Another solution would be for trucks to be equipped with anti-mirrors and “detection systems for pedestrians and cyclists”, in other words “cameras and audible alarms […] to notify the driver” of the presence of pedestrians or cyclists, suggested the coroner.
In its response to the coroner’s recommendations, the SAAQ indicates that if sound devices on heavy vehicles can “prove to be useful” in warning a vulnerable user of the intention to back up or turn, “too many of vehicles equipped with such a signal could result in this signal becoming trivialized.”
The organization even fears that this “will become a source of distraction for certain vulnerable users”, which would create “another security problem”.
Hearing pollution is a source of complaints from the population. Regarding the requirement for strobe lights at the front of heavy vehicles, the increase in the number of vehicles equipped with this equipment could cause a reduction in the attention paid by various road users to vehicles of this kind. emergency currently authorized to be equipped with this type of light.
Geneviève Perron, spokesperson for the SAAQ
As for the second recommendation, namely 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 would require a complete harmonization of requirements with other North American administrations,” says Mme Perron.
Furthermore, she adds, this equipment “can quickly become ineffective in certain conditions (rain, snow, dirt, etc.)”, especially since “the different technologies for detecting vulnerable users are not yet standardized and are not complete as to their effectiveness.”
These technologies can even “have mixed effects on the vigilance and distraction of drivers”, according to the SAAQ, which also says it is in the process of preparing a guide to the use of front-view mirrors, in order to guide the industry heavy vehicles, among others.
Municipal concerns
District councilor Sylvain Ouellet considers it “a bit unusual that the SAAQ does not first try to eliminate the most serious problems at the source”. “We are not on a construction site or on a highway, we are in an inhabited living environment. It is not normal that we allow trucks to drive in prohibited zones with blind spots that they are not supposed to have and above all, at speeds where they are not supposed to go,” he laments. .
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
A daycare is right across the street from where Dilan Kaya lost his life.
According to him, the fact that there are no real consequences for the trucker “doesn’t help either”.
Someone who has a hunting or weapons license, if an incident happened, I’m pretty sure they would be prosecuted. I wonder why there is such a double standard.
Sylvain Ouellet, district councilor in Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension
In addition to continuing awareness-raising activities, the coroner’s report also contained a third recommendation: that of making it mandatory to install “CAUTION, BLIND SPOTS” warning stickers on heavy vehicles.
On this subject, the SAAQ indicates that it “will follow the directions that will be taken by Transport Canada as well as those of our Canadian counterparts on this subject.”
The company recalls that every year, raising awareness about the blind spots of heavy vehicles is a priority and that “diverse means are used to raise awareness among the population about sharing the road with heavy vehicles, such as virtual reality in which it is particularly a question of blind spots and right turns.”
Year after year, road inspectors also make sure to raise awareness among users through prevention activities on the ground “making it possible to demonstrate, using red carpets, the dangers posed by blind spots around heavy vehicles”, concludes. Geneviève Perron.