Canada - Canadian hockey team fatal bus accident tragedy, 6 April 2018

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The decision to lay dangerous driving charges causing death and bodily harm against the truck driver who allegedly caused the Humboldt Broncos bus crash has, unsurprisingly, caused many in Saskatchewan and elsewhere to speculate as to the potential outcome.

This horrific and tragic event has garnered worldwide attention and the decision to lay Criminal Code charges will lead to further attention.

OPINION: Why manner of driving will be focus of Humboldt bus crash court case | CBC News

Excellent article giving the opinion of a Canadian lawyer on the future legal technicalities of the case against the truck driver.
 
will4u said:
that is what they are going to have a very difficult time proving in court, especially with no witnesses.....missing a stop sign is not "dangerous operation"....its a minor traffic violation,

police can charge anybody they want with a crime.....but actually proving it in court is an entirely different story,

this will be a very interesting court case, and right now im saying he will be dismissed of the charges,

i am hoping this man gets a fair trial like everybody is entitled to, and the jury will not have him hung and executed before it even begins just because that is what the public and police want,

police are only doing this to try to please the public,

failing to stop at a stop sign is a minor traffic violation, its not "dangerous operation".....good luck in court with that one, they are gonna need it!
Click to expand...

I believe there may well have been witnesses to the crash. We know of one woman for sure. Other cars may have been near the intersection. These individuals will be likely called to testify.
 
CoolJ said:
They must have more than just going through a stop sign. But what else could it be? texting or on cell phone?
As tragic as this incident is, i do not wish ill will on this man. If all he did was miss the stop sign, I can't see how this is criminal.
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I'm with you, and I think there must be more to it than running the stop sign. Maybe like speeding through the stop sign to get through the intersection before the bus crossed. I think it's more about being dangerous than distracted.
 
CoolJ said:
They must have more than just going through a stop sign. But what else could it be? texting or on cell phone?
As tragic as this incident is, i do not wish ill will on this man. If all he did was miss the stop sign, I can't see how this is criminal.
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I don’t wish ill will on him either and hope he gets a fair trial. I just feel that if he broke the law whilst driving killing sixteen people in the process and leaving others disabled then he needs to face the legal consequences of doing so. I hope we learn the true facts of what caused the accident. Do any of you think a plea deal is likely?
 
Even if the crash was caused by lack of attention or a blind view of the road with no speeding or texting or other violations, due to the gravity of the crash the prosecution had no option but to lay charges in order to allow the course of Justice to unfold as it should. Knowing what occured will serve as a small amount of closure for the survivors and the families of the victims, for the general public, for the trucking company owner and maybe even for the semi driver as well. This tragedy has touched the hearts of all Canadians.

A plea deal, a statement released by the accused, it wouldn’t surprise me. Canadian Courts are notoriously easy on people who willingly admit their unintentional wrongs and all indications are the semi driver has fully cooperated with the investigation. If he chooses to plea (confess), he couldn’t do so prior to charges being laid.

If he’s otherwise tried and convicted, considering our judicial system is based on rehabilitation and not punishment, no way would he sentenced to prison for decades. The max sentence for dangerous driving causing death is generally reserved for people who use their vehicle in such a way as to not care about the lives of other people while fleeing from police.

I’m glad charges have finally been laid because will put to rest all the vicious online speculation and rumours that have been running rampant even in Alberta.

JMO
 
MistyWaters said:
Even if the crash was caused by lack of attention or a blind view of the road with no speeding or texting or other violations, due to the gravity of the crash the prosecution had no option but to lay charges in order to allow the course of Justice to unfold as it should. Knowing what occured will serve as a small amount of closure for the survivors and the families of the victims, for the general public, for the trucking company owner and maybe even for the semi driver as well. This tragedy has touched the hearts of all Canadians.

A plea deal, a statement released by the accused, it wouldn’t surprise me. Canadian Courts are notoriously easy on people who willingly admit their unintentional wrongs and all indications are the semi driver has fully cooperated with the investigation. If he chooses to plea (confess), he couldn’t do so prior to charges being laid.

If he’s otherwise tried and convicted, considering our judicial system is based on rehabilitation and not punishment, no way would he sentenced to prison for decades. The max sentence for dangerous driving causing death is generally reserved for people who use their vehicle in such a way as to not care about the lives of other people while fleeing from police.

I’m glad charges have finally been laid because will put to rest all the vicious online speculation and rumours that have been running rampant even in Alberta.

JMO
Click to expand...

Misty, imagine the vicious online speculation and rumours that will run rampant if the truck driver is found not guilty/or the Crown is determined to not have sufficiently proved its case after 3 months of evidently gathering and analyzing evidence.
 
The police said in the press conference this was NOT simple running a stop sign.

There was a criminal element, ie drinking texting drugs etc.... they could not give more details due to to the trial.

This is more than a traffic violation, put your conspiracy theory to bed about the police maybe.
 
ldlager said:
Misty, imagine the vicious online speculation and rumours that will run rampant if the truck driver is found not guilty/or the Crown is determined to not have sufficiently proved its case after 3 months of evidently gathering and analyzing evidence.
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Yeah I suppose, it’s hard to predict. Many of the rumours I’m thinking of related to ridiculous reasons why charges took so long to be filed or why the semi driver would never be charged (and they probably didn’t realize it’s commonplace here for investigations to move slower than a snail’s pace).

But I think most people understand while the Crown puts forth their case, it’s by no means a guaranteed conviction and everyone has the legal right to defend themselves - if this was a third world country where stoning and vigelante justice prevailed, we wouldn’t dare express opinions. So regardless of the outcome, there’s no way that Justice will undo the tragedy.

This tragedy is somewhat different than other high profile cases because there’s no indication this crash was caused deliberately. Sadly, hardly a week goes by in the Prairie Provinces without other news reports of two vehicle accidents at any one of the 100s if not 1000s of rural intersections, caused by one vehicle not stopping or yielding. How about in cities too, accidents, injuries happen everyday. So do we want each and every careless driver who causes a vehicle accident particularly involving death to get thrown in jail for years as well, or just this guy? And how about drunk drivers because right now they barely get a slap on the wrist?

Until this particular case, I never realized how atrociously lax Alberta’s laws were in regard to training and licensing truck drivers and there’s no standardization from province to province. Maybe people should be outraged at that too.
 
Jealoushe said:
The police said in the press conference this was NOT simple running a stop sign.

There was a criminal element, ie drinking texting drugs etc.... they could not give more details due to to the trial.

This is more than a traffic violation, put your conspiracy theory to bed about the police maybe.
Click to expand...

I wonder if what you’re thinking of is comments pertaining to why the semi driver wasn’t charged immediately, even at the scene.......as obviously he should’ve been stopped at the stop sign as the bus passed safely by?

The spokesperson’s response was something around it’s not so simple to lay criminal charges only on the fact the semi driver ran a stop sign, and it’s not. Reconstructions are always conducted to aid in determining how a crash occurred.

Maybe that’s what you’re remembering because that’s what I recall.
 
ldlager said:
Why prosecutors face a tough challenge in Humboldt Broncos crash case

Article says it may be challenging to secure a conviction of the truck driver. Nuff said.
Click to expand...

i agree with the article 100%....like i said in my previous post (or posts) its going to be very difficult to prove in court,

i just hope this man gets a fair trial with an impartial jury, as most people already have this guy tarred and feathered by now,

i don't think this trial should be taking place in saskatchewan as it will be to difficult to find an impartial jury, the jury memebers will probably be swayed ahead of time toward a conviction, because they know if they find this man not guilty there will be public outrage, so they could convict the man just out of fear,

alcohol or drugs are out of the question here, he would have been charged with those offenses on the night of the accident,

if there was texting involved he would be charged with distracted driving along with the criminal charges, prosecution would want to lay as many charges as they possibly could, in hopes that they can at least prove one of them in court,

IMO there case is very weak, only applying the one charge,

plea bargain would not be likely here, unless its something rediculous like 6 moths probation, if that happened and the prosecution agreed to it, then that would be further confirmation that they KNOW their case is weak,

unless this man and his lawyer know for sure he did something that would warrant these charges, then im rolling the dice here and going to trial,

the outrage here is at least 50% because of what these kids were and did.....a hockey team, if they were a group of kids who were in a school band, on their way to a concert, the outcome here, and media attention would be totally different
 
Last edited:
addition to my previous post,

IMO this charge against the driver is more just to please the public, and to try to make the police and prosecutors look good,

i think they know their case is very weak,

here is their thinking......at least if this goes to a trial and the driver is found not guilty of the charges, then they can basically say "well at least we tried" now the public can blame the jury for the innocent conviction, its all about shifting the blame
 
will4u said:
i agree with the article 100%....like i said in my previous post (or posts) its going to be very difficult to prove in court,

i just hope this man gets a fair trial with an impartial jury, as most people already have this guy tarred and feathered by now,

i don't think this trial should be taking place in saskatchewan as it will be to difficult to find an impartial jury, the jury memebers will probably be swayed ahead of time toward a conviction, because they know if they find this man not guilty there will be public outrage, so they could convict the man just out of fear,

alcohol or drugs are out of the question here, he would have been charged with those offenses on the night of the accident,

if there was texting involved he would be charged with distracted driving along with the criminal charges, prosecution would want to lay as many charges as they possibly could, in hopes that they can at least prove one of them in court,

IMO there case is very weak, only applying the one charge,

plea bargain would not be likely here, unless its something rediculous like 6 moths probation, if that happened and the prosecution agreed to it, then that would be further confirmation that they KNOW their case is weak,

unless this man and his lawyer know for sure he did something that would warrant these charges, then im rolling the dice here and going to trial,

the outrage here is at least 50% because of what these kids were and did.....a hockey team, if they were a group of kids who were in a school band, on their way to a concert, the outcome here, and media attention would be totally different
Click to expand...

I agree, if there were other factors involved including drugs or alcohol, the semi driver would be facing additional charges as well.

If this goes to trial there’s a strong possibility he’d elect trial by Judge alone, rather than a jury trial.

Of interest, there was recently a case in BC where a driver flew through an intersection at an extremely high rate of speed and hit another car that was turning at the intersection, killing the driver. Although the lower court found him not guilty of dangerous driving causing death, the case is presently being appealed by the Crown. As mentioned in the recent news report regarding the Humboldt case, the hurdle for a successful prosecution will be to prove negligence beyond reasonable doubt, as opposed to a “momentary lapse of attention”.

“......Canada's highest court noted the difference between the lower bar for a civil finding of negligence and the high bar needed to make sure an innocent person wasn't being sent to jail for a "momentary lapse of attention.....”
Video of crash in controversial case sparks debate about law | CBC News


Why manner of driving will be focus of Humboldt bus crash court case
OPINION: Why manner of driving will be focus of Humboldt bus crash court case | CBC News
 
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MistyWaters said:
I wonder if what you’re thinking of is comments pertaining to why the semi driver wasn’t charged immediately, even at the scene.......as obviously he should’ve been stopped at the stop sign as the bus passed safely by?
Click to expand...

No, what I saw was the police explaining this was more than simply running a stop sign. That they investigated for quite some time to determine there was a criminal element to this enough to lay the charges. My guess only: There may not have been enough alcohol or blood to lay DUI, or he may have been texting, or using the bathroom or watching a movie....something. They aren`t going to charge with distracted driving if they can charge with dangerous driving causing death.

The definition of dangerous driving states driving in a reckless manner with total disregard for the public.

We cant really be certain until the trial.
 
JayFriend said:
The family of a Humboldt Bronco who was killed in the crash is suing

The family of a Humboldt Bronco who was killed in the crash is suing - NEWS 1130
Click to expand...

I’m really surprised they are suing the bus manufacturer. I’m not surprised at the lawsuit it will be the first of many I imagine. I wouldn’t be surprised the truck company, the truck company owner and the truck driver file for bankruptcy. I wonder how much insurance coverage the truck company owner had. One of my Canadian friends told me that vehicle insurance is extortionate in Canada.

I wonder how it’s going to work with the criminal and civil case happening at the same time.

It would be good if they do manage to get the bus intersection declared unsafe in its current form. I hope with mandatory driver training being implemented and hopefully improvements made to the intersection something positive can come from this terrible tragedy.
 
will4u said:
i agree with the article 100%....like i said in my previous post (or posts) its going to be very difficult to prove in court,

i just hope this man gets a fair trial with an impartial jury, as most people already have this guy tarred and feathered by now,

i don't think this trial should be taking place in saskatchewan as it will be to difficult to find an impartial jury, the jury memebers will probably be swayed ahead of time toward a conviction, because they know if they find this man not guilty there will be public outrage, so they could convict the man just out of fear,

alcohol or drugs are out of the question here, he would have been charged with those offenses on the night of the accident,

if there was texting involved he would be charged with distracted driving along with the criminal charges, prosecution would want to lay as many charges as they possibly could, in hopes that they can at least prove one of them in court,

IMO there case is very weak, only applying the one charge,

plea bargain would not be likely here, unless its something rediculous like 6 moths probation, if that happened and the prosecution agreed to it, then that would be further confirmation that they KNOW their case is weak,

unless this man and his lawyer know for sure he did something that would warrant these charges, then im rolling the dice here and going to trial,

the outrage here is at least 50% because of what these kids were and did.....a hockey team, if they were a group of kids who were in a school band, on their way to a concert, the outcome here, and media attention would be totally different
Click to expand...

I don’t know if the court will agree to moving the trial outside saskatchewan as the tragedy must be well known in the whole of Canada. It was even in the press here in the U.K quite a bit when it happened.
 
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