Ontario trucker sentenced for careless driving in fatal collision near Falcon Lake
A semi-truck driver from Ontario has been sentenced under the Highway Traffic Act for his role in a fatal collision three years ago on the Trans-Canada Highway near Falcon Lake in Whiteshell Provincial Park.
Mark Lugli, 54, and Jacob Lugli, 17, a father and son from Dryden, Ont. were on their way to a golf tournament in Selkirk, Man. when they were killed in a head-on crash on July 21, 2019, at the turnoff onto Barren Lake Road.
The crash prompted renewed calls to twin the 17-kilometre section of highway that remains undivided which the Manitoba government announced in September it plans to do.
The truck driver, Abhinav Abhinav, who court heard was 22-years-old at the time of the collision, received a $3,000 fine and a four-month driving ban after pleading guilty to careless driving causing death.
The maximum penalties for the offence are $5,000, a five-year driving ban and a maximum of two years jail time but the Crown was not seeking a custodial sentence.
Court heard Mark and Jacob were heading westbound on the Trans-Canada while Abhinav, who had been on the job for a few months at the time, was heading eastbound with a load from Headingley into Ontario.
Inderjit Singh, the Crown attorney on the case, told the court dashcam video from inside his truck captured Abhinav travelling at a steady rate of speed of around 105 km/h in a 100 km/h zone.
Video, that according to the Crown, also shows his semi gaining ground on two vehicles in front of him.
“There doesn’t appear to be any dramatic change (in speed) or braking,” Singh told the court. “At this point, it’s unclear why he didn’t reduce his speed.”
“In this case, Mr. Abhinav wasn’t doing anything overtly dangerous.”
Singh told the court the two vehicles in front of him then came to stop at the turnoff to Barren Lake, with the lead car attempting to make a left turn onto the gravel road.
“The turn that she was making was a left turn but it wasn’t an expected turn,” Singh told the court.
Abhinav applied the brakes and veered left to avoid a rear-end collision with the vehicles in front of him, colliding head-on with the vehicle Mark and Jacob were in which was heading in the opposite direction.
Court did not hear any details on how much sooner Abhinav would’ve needed to stop in order to avoid a collision.
“These are circumstances which are not wholly attributable to the driver, Mr. Abhinav,” Marty Minuk, Abhinav’s lawyer, told the court.
In imposing the sentence, Manitoba Provincial Court Judge Mary Kate Harvie acknowledged family members may leave feeling unsatisfied.
Harvie told the court the offence is one that can be committed in a variety of ways.
“He should’ve reacted and he didn’t,” Harvie told the court. “And in failing to do so he’s admitted to committing this offence.”
Harvie noted there’s a higher level of responsibility as Abhinav, although a relatively new driver, was a trained professional driving a large truck.
Lynn Konkle, who’s Mark’s wife and Jacob’s mom, along with Zack and Alex Lugli, Mark’s sons and Jacob’s brothers and Gabby Lugli, who’s Jacob’s twin sister and Mark’s daughter, flew in from their home in Ottawa to attend the sentencing hearing. Five family friends were also in attendance and around 10 people joined the proceedings virtually because they couldn’t attend in person.
In her victim impact statement, Konkle recalled recently driving for the first time by a weathered memorial along the highway where the crash occurred and placing fresh flowers beside it.
Konkle told the court she stayed behind the day of the collision to prepare for an upcoming camping trip, one the family never got to take.
“That day will forever be etched in my mind and my heart,” Konkle told the court.
She described meeting her future husband Mark, who later became a beloved school principal in Dryden, Ont., at university and starting a family together.
Konkle remembers saying goodbye to Mark and Jacob the day they left for the golf tournament and how Jacob had told people, “I love my mom,” as he crossed the stage during his recent graduation from high school.
“I will never know all the greatness Jacob would’ve contributed to this world,” Konkle said of her son, who was remembered as a star athlete in golf and a leader on his hockey teams.
Zack recalled being flown by helicopter from Red Lake, Ont. where he was fighting forest fires because there was a family emergency. That’s all he knew until he arrived home in Dryden where he was given the news his brother and dad had been killed.
“Singlehandedly, the most traumatic experience of my life,” Zack told the court, sharing how he’d spoken on the phone with his dad the day before the collision. He said his father helped him overcome challenges he was encountering fighting fires.
“He was such a positive, happy-go-lucky man with a heart of gold,” Zack said of his dad.
During his victim impact statement, Alex told the court his brother Jacob was a high achiever, who treated teammates and opponents in sport with respect, and his dad was his rock.
He told the court the grieving his family is doing will continue for the rest of their lives.
“The fact that this occurred was senseless,” Alex told the court, before addressing the driver.
“My heart knows that you did not intend to kill two people. Human beings make mistakes but the hard reality is no ruling here today will ever bring back my dad or my brother."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.