Drunk driver took off ‘like a bat out of hell’ following QEW hit-and-run
Niagara Falls man who crashed his truck had almost three times legal limit of alcohol in system
An impaired driver who raced across Garden City Skyway “like a bat out of hell” before losing control and rolling his pickup truck several times has been placed under house arrest.
“I think, even though we don’t have victim impact (statements) filed from the people who were out there that day, that they must have been scared to death,” Judge Lynn Robinson told Gordon Cracknell in the Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines on Wednesday.
“First of all, not everyone is comfortable on the (QEW), not everybody is comfortable on bridges. That’s a big bloody bridge and you’re driving like a crazy person.”
Cracknell, 23, was given a 90-day conditional sentence, also known as house arrest, after he pleaded guilty to several charges, including impaired driving and dangerous driving.
Court heard that the incident began at about 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 12, 2023, when a vehicle was sideswiped by a truck on Dunkirk Road in St. Catharines.
The driver said the truck driver took off “like a bat out of hell” toward the Queen Elizabeth Way. The second driver followed the offender onto the highway, but soon lost sight of him due to excessive speeds.
Another driver reported that she was on the skyway when she noticed a vehicle coming up behind her at a high rate of speed. She moved into the middle lane of the highway to avoid the oncoming driver.
When the defendant passed her, court heard, the truck struck the centre median of the bridge.
A number of witnesses reported to police that the driver was swerving between the lanes of the highway at speeds of up to 140 km/h, said assistant Crown attorney Deniz Kilinc.
One witness said the truck “passed him like he was standing still.”
Court was told that the defendant took the Mountain Road exit in Niagara Falls at a high rate of speed and lost control of the truck. Kilinc said the vehicle “rolled violently,” before coming to rest in a ditch.
A number of people stopped to assist the driver.
Beer cans were scattered around the wreckage, and additional cans were located inside the vehicle. A breath test confirmed that the driver had almost three times the legal limit of alcohol in his system.
“I think it’s unfortunate that you don’t know those people because I think you should be apologizing to each and every one of them,” the judge told the offender.
She said the incident would have had an emotional impact on not only the other drivers, but also on the people who stopped to assist after the crash.
“They leapt into action, they’re trying to do the right thing for someone who wasn’t doing the right thing for them,” Robinson said.
“You benefited by everybody else’s good nature, yet you didn’t extend the same courtesy to them.”
Defence lawyer Mark Evans said his client, who had no prior criminal record, accepts full responsibility for his actions.
“(He) recognizes that his driving can only be described as awful,” he told the judge.
“He recognizes that he put the lives of everyone who was travelling on the road in danger, and he put his own life in danger.”
While the judge said a joint submission requested by the Crown and defence was not one she “robustly and enthusiastically” supported, she agreed to the proposal.
“You have a lot of potential that you almost lost that day,” Robinson told the offender.
Cracknell, a resident of Niagara Falls, was also banned from driving for two years.
The court matter was heard on the same day the provincial government announced that it is raising the speed limits on 10 sections of major highways.
Maximum speeds will rise to 110 km/h from100 km/h on portions of 400-series highways, including Highway 406 from Thorold to Welland, Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said on Wednesday.
The changes begin on July 12.