Fatal collision described in court

City worker pleads not guilty to dangerous driving causing death

It was 12 degrees celsius in Lethbridge about 3:30 p.m. Nov. 13, 2015. The wind was blowing, but not hard, and road conditions on Whoop-Up Drive were generally clean and dry. But the sun was setting and shining right into the faces of motorists as they drove west on Whoop-Up Drive, and that’s likely why Alan John Johnston didn’t see the front-end loader in the lane right in front of him.

Johnston, 72, died after he struck the heavy counterweight on the rear of the loader, which then smashed through the minivan’s windshield and into Johnston’s head.

Lethbridge police constable and collision analyst Brent Paxman described the gruesome scenario Monday in Lethbridge provincial court, where Scott Edward Erickson is on trial for dangerous driving causing death.

Erickson, court heard, was working for the City of Lethbridge and using the loader to clear snow from the concrete median so there wouldn’t be any water from melting snow on the roadway that could freeze and cause hazardous driving conditions.

Paxman testified Johnston wouldn’t have been expecting a stopped or slow-moving vehicle to be in the fast lane, and he didn’t see the loader “until it was too late.” Paxman also noted there weren’t any construction or warning signs, flags, pylons or anything else to warn motorists that a City worker was clearing snow up the road, although the rotating light on top of the loader was operating, as were its four-way flashers.

Paxman also pointed out that about 1,300 vehicles would have been travelling on WhoopUp Drive between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. that day.

Const. Ross Bond, who was a member of the traffic response unit in 2015, testified Erickson was picking up the snow by the median and carrying it across three lanes of traffic to dump it on the north side of the roadway. He would then return to the median and repeat the process.

During a video-recorded interview later at the police station, Erickson said he knew drivers could see him because they were getting out of his lane farther down the hill and no one had to swerve around him. But he also knew the driver of the minivan was going to hit the loader because “it looked like he was staring at his windshield wipers.”

Const. Darren Birrell, who took pictures of the area at about the same time the following day, testified glare from the sun would have caused problems for drivers, as it did for him as he took pictures of the crash site.

But Calgary lawyer Balfour Der challenged Birrell’s evidence, and suggested the scene could not be replicated the following day because the sun would not be in the same position, and the photos were taken from the sidewalk on the north side of the roadway, while the collision occurred in the south lane.

The trial is expected to continue today with Der’s cross-examination of Paxman.

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