Tire imprints found on backseat of mangled vehicle, court hears
A pickup truck that became airborne and “drove through” a car on Stanley Avenue, leaving a motorist with life-altering injuries, did not appear to brake before it barrelled into the sedan, a police officer testified Thursday.
The force of impact between the Nissan Frontier driven by Ryan Dick almost severed the rear passenger compartment and trunk of a Pontiac Pursuit operated by Romy Lam, 61, of Niagara Falls.
The Aug. 29, 2013, crash sent sections of the rear end of Lam’s vehicle into a field near the intersection of Stanley Avenue and McLeod Road.
Det. Const. Ken Schonewille, an accident reconstructionist with Niagara Regional Police, testified in Superior Court of Justice in Welland the truck did not leave any tire marks on the roadway which indicates the driver did not apply the brakes before the vehicle plowed into the car.
Dick, a Niagara Falls resident who was 24 at the time of the crash, has pleaded not guilty to charges of impaired driving causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing bodily harm and driving with greater than 80 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood.
“Did you find any tire marks attributable to braking,” asked assistant Crown attorney Andrew Brown. “No, I did not,” the officer replied. “Did you find any tire marks attributable to any evasive manoeuvres?” Brown asked.
“No, I did not,” Schonewille said. Schonewille said the evidence left at the scene suggested the truck became airborne and drove through the other vehicle. Tire imprints from Dick’s truck were found in the back seat area of Lam’s mangled vehicle.
Lam spent three months in a coma after the collision. She sustained a serious head injury and spinal fractures and is in a wheelchair. She will never work again. Her husband has had to quit his job to care for her.
Dick, who had been drinking at Hooters earlier in the day, walked away from the crash but was treated at hospital for a head and hand injury then released into police custody.
While he could not accurately state what speed Ryan was driving when he crashed into the car, Schonewille said he believes excessive speed was a contributing factor in the collision based on scene evidence and information gathered from witnesses,
“I believe this collision was at highway speeds, above 100 km/h,” he said.
The speed limit on Stanley Avenue in that area is 50 km/h.
The trial continues Wednesday.