Woman describes glare of sun on Whoop-Up Drive
Dangerous driving causing death trial continues
Aran Shortt couldn’t believe her eyes when she glimpsed through the glare of the sun a front-end loader impeding traffic on Whoop-Up Drive Nov. 13, 2015.
The Lethbridge resident was taking a cab home from work about 3 p.m. that day when the vehicle was forced to slow down when it unexpectedly encountered the slow-moving loader in the fast lane of Whoop-Up Drive West.
“I was in utter disbelief,” Shortt testified Thursday in Lethbridge provincial court, where she was a Crown witness in the trial of Scott Edward Erickson, who is charged with dangerous driving causing death.
Erickson was removing snow near the median and taking it across three lanes of traffic to dump it onto the north side of the road. Court heard the City worker was moving the snow before it could melt, freeze and cause icy conditions.
Shortt said the sun was blinding at that time of day, but she noticed the car in front of the cab was slowing down. She also noticed against the glare of the sun the outline of a large vehicle farther ahead. Then the car ahead braked harder, forcing the cab to do the same.
“What the heck is this?” she asked the cab driver before she realized it was a loader working on the road.
Shortt said the loader came to a gradual stop, then it turned and jutted across to the other side of the road where it dumped a load of snow.
“It shot like an arrow,” Shortt said as she described the incident. She remembers thinking at the time, “‘What is this person doing?’ I was in complete shock.”
The loader then turned around and returned to the fast lane where it scooped up more snow then drove back across three lanes of traffic. This time, however, the cab “snuck by” before the loader returned. And even though they were safely by, Shortt said she was worried about motorists behind them who, because of the sun in their faces, might not see the loader in time to avoid it.
At about 3:30 p.m. 72-yearold Alan John Johnston drove into the back of the loader and was killed.
Despite her concerns, Shortt admitted under crossexamination by Calgary lawyer Balfour Der that she never called 911 or asked the cab driver to call. And despite her concern about the sun, she conceded she was still able to see some distance up the road ahead of the cab. But she said drivers needed to be “100 per cent focused” on the road to see the loader through the sun’s glare.
The Crown contends glare from the sun impeded drivers’ ability to see ahead of them, and that Erickson should not have been removing snow from Whoop-Up Drive that time of day.
According to other City workers, Erickson shouldn’t have been there at all, and certainly not with a front-end loader.
Ed Vervloet, transportation co-ordinator with the City, said snow crews only use highspeed plows to clear snow from Whoop-Up Drive. He said loaders are not used on the roadway because of the traffic speed and volume. There wasn’t even a safe-workplace policy at the time regarding snow removal on Whoop-Up Drive with a loader, “‘cause it’s never done.”
Vervloet said had Erickson explained what he was planning to do when he requested a loader, “I would have said absolutely not.”
Der, however, suggested Vervloet knew Erickson intended to remove snow from Whoop-Up Drive, because he told him.
“No, he didn’t,” Vervloet responded.
Vervloet agreed with Der, however, when the lawyer pointed out that Erickson, who was one of four snowstorm watch operators, had authority to deal with snow-related problems when he encountered them. Vervloet also agreed when debris or anything else is lying on the busy road, a City worker should immediately stop and deal with it.
The Crown hoped to wrap up its case Thursday, which would allow Der to begin his case and call witnesses to the stand today. And while the trial is scheduled to finish Monday, it could go longer, the Crown noted previously.