Corvette driver found guilty

Judge finds alcohol played role in fatality

The driver of a high-performance muscle car involved in a fatal crash near Alberta Beach in June 2009 was found guilty of impaired driving causing death and bodily harm Tuesday.

It was a crash the accused Rodney Ivan Flight later told police was “quick and stupid and shouldn’t have happened.”

Flight punched his 2008 Corvette — opening to full throttle in a 50 km/h zone — lost control and hit a Buick head-on, killing the driver, 67-year-old Robert Anton Zastrow.

Zastrow’s passenger, 54-year-old Jeffrey Zastrow, was seriously injured in the crash.

Justice Monica Bast found Flight guilty Tuesday.

A date for sentencing will be set Jan. 11.

Flight, a 47-year-old resident of Sherwood Park, had been golfing all day on June 20, 2009.

He told police he had a few drinks at the tournament, “one or two throughout the day and everyone does that.”

After the final banquet, he left to take his Corvette out for a spin in the area.

He turned onto Range Road 32 just outside Alberta Beach, drove 20 metres to a straight section of road and hit the accelerator, even though he could see an oncoming vehicle in the distance, court heard.

The car fishtailed, swung to the right, then left, crossing the centre line and slamming to the Zastrow’s Buick.

He braked 0.45 seconds before impact, half the amount of time Zastrow was able to break.

Bast said that slow reaction time, along with Flight’s poor judgment and impulse control, demonstrates the effect of alcohol, said Bast in her decision.

Robert Zastrow wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, and died at the scene.

Jeffrey Zastrow was airlifted to hospital with several broken ribs and other injuries.

Police detected only a faint smell of alcohol on Flight’s breath at the scene, and noted that he did not slur his speech or otherwise act impaired.

He took a breathalyzer test at the station, about two hours after the collision.

An analyst calculated that his blood alcohol levels would have been between .099 and 1.47 bloodalcohol content at the time of the crash, 7:30 p.m.

That estimate is more than the .08 level stipulated in the Criminal Code as the allowable limit for driving.