Nine people file latest lawsuit in Fallowfield bus-train crash

The City of Ottawa and Via Rail are facing another $2.25 million in lawsuits after nine more people who were on the OC Transpo bus that crashed into a train filed suit last Friday.

They’re the latest of the 25 lawsuits known to have been filed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa following the crash near Fallowfield station on Sept. 18, 2013, that killed five passengers and the bus driver, David Woodard.

Each of the nine new lawsuits claims $250,000 in general damages for pain and suffering, plus an undetermined amount in special damages. They allege negligence on the part of both corporations, and also list Woodard’s estate and the train conductor as defendants.

Defence documents have not yet been filed in response to the new set of lawsuits.

The lawsuits claim damages in the form of physical injuries and loss of income, as well as “psychological and mental disorders” requiring ongoing therapy.

Some of the new plaintiffs painted a grim picture of the crash scene back in 2013.

Rebecca Guilbeault, one of the latest plaintiffs, told CTV News that she was on the bus with her 1-year-old son. While escaping the bus she saw “a few people dead, someone ripped in half,” she said.

“I cannot let that feeling go,” Ajoy Bista, another passenger who filed suit Friday, said. “I think it will stay there, I need, probably I’ll go for some counselling, yeah. It’s blood, it’s death in front of you and you could do nothing about it.”

The City of Ottawa alleged in its first lawsuit defence in June that negligence on the part of Via Rail was a contributing cause of the deadly crash.

The city’s legal response defended Woodard as a “competent, trained and experienced driver” and maintained that the city took all reasonable steps to ensure that he was capable of driving the double-decker bus in a “safe and prudent” manner.

Meanwhile, Via Rail has pointed to a preliminary report following a Canada Transportation Safety Board investigation that indicated driver distraction and speed may have been factors in the crash.