Running a stop sign after failing to heed multiple warning devices, killing a Drumheller man and injuring his daughter, was an act of dangerous driving by an Ontario man, a Calgary judge ruled Tuesday.
Justice Janice Ashcroft rejected arguments by defence counsel Curtis Mennie that the intersection where the crash occurred was “highly problematic” and created a reasonable doubt Augustin Henry’s conduct was a marked departure from a reasonably prudent driver.
The Calgary Court of King’s Bench judge convicted Henry on charges of dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm over the Jan. 5, 2020, crash that killed Daniel Bdzel and injured his daughter.
Ashcroft said there were multiple warnings of the upcoming intersection at Highway 564 and Highway 9 northeast of Calgary to alert Henry to the danger ahead.
Instead, she found, he was travelling at 90 km/h when he crashed his rented SUV into Bdzel’s northbound Ford Focus around 5:30 p.m. that day.
“A reasonable person would have foreseen the risk of dangerous collisions,” Ashcroft said, in finding Henry’s conduct constituted a marked departure from that of a reasonably prudent driver.
“A reasonable person would have taken note of the traffic signage and stopped.”
The judge noted “multiple warnings and control devices announced this a substantial distance from the intersection.”
Ashcroft also said there was no evidence blowing snow or lighting conditions contributed to the crash.
She said a patch of trees may have blocked Henry’s ability to see northbound traffic on Highway 9, but he would have been able to easily see traffic travelling southbound, which should have alerted him to the upcoming intersection.
“I find that the manner of driving, viewed objectively, was dangerous to the public. In all the circumstances there were significant risks of injury, collision, or death.”
Ashcroft denied Crown prosecutor Ron Simenik’s request to revoke bail pending sentencing, which will be held at a later date.