Motorist fined after popular teacher killed

A friend of a motorcyclist and popular NAIT instructor killed by a car wonders about the fairness of a $115 fine given the driver.

Graham Miller, 47, was riding his Victory Hammer motorcycle from his teaching job, on his way to meet friends for dinner, on the evening of Nov. 9, 2011. As he rode through the intersection of 106th Street and Princess Elizabeth Avenue, a car turning left struck him.

He died at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

On Wednesday, the driver, 41-year-old Gerald Andrew Lee, paid a $115 fine for making an unsafe left turn, a charge under the Tra c Safety Act.

“Life just doesn’t seem fair sometimes, does it?” asked Robert Lynch, Miller’s best friend of 10 years, after hearing the news.

“A $115 fine hardly sounds just. I get the sense this was an accident and now this guy will have to live the rest of his life having taken a very good man away from a lot of people. It’s a real shame that Graham was taken from us this early because of someone else’s carelessness.” A fine hardly seems a fair price for Lee to be “absolved of his negligence,” Lynch added.

The Tra c Safety Act is separate from the Criminal Code of Canada.

Miller, an experienced motorcyclist of more than two decades, was wearing a helmet when he was struck.

“He loved to ride. He had that Victory for six or seven years,” Lynch said. “He’d done multiple trips across the country on a motorcycle.”

Miller was an instructor in the digital media and information technology program at NAIT. Shortly after he died, his students spoke favourably about him. At the time, Miller had volunteered to work with students to create a video game design club.

Miller wanted to help as much as he could with the new club, but always made sure not to overshadow the e orts of his students, Ryan Troock said.

“He was more worried about doing too much than too little,” Troock said. “I can honestly say he was the best instructor, both in terms of actually teaching the material and in terms of being great to talk to.”

Miller followed a family tradition in teaching. Both his parents were instructors. He also coached rugby at St. Francis Xavier High School.

“Teaching was definitely his passion,” Lynch said. “When they say that people look to their careers in hopes of finding what they love to do, Graham found that. He had an excellent rapport with his students.”