SUV sped up to 100 km/h passing car on morning girl was hit in Saanich crosswalk, specialist says
Video-analysis expert testifies in dangerous-driving trial
An expert in video analysis testified that the black Mercedes SUV that struck and catastrophically injured Leila Bui in a Saanich crosswalk two years ago accelerated to 95 to 100 kilometres an hour after it overtook another vehicle on Ash Road.
On Wednesday, a gasp was heard in court as Major Adam Cybanski testified that the black Mercedes heading east on Ash Road accelerated from 50 kilometres an hour to 90 kilometres an hour as it overtook Julia Fellman’s vehicle and continued to accelerate after passing Fellman on the morning of Dec. 20, 2017.
Cybanski, an expert in determining the velocity of an object from analyzing video, was testifying as a Crown witness at Tenessa Nikirk’s trial for dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
Nikirk, who is in her early 20s, was behind the wheel of the Mercedes that struck Leila in the crosswalk at Ash Road and Torquay Drive in Saanich. Leila suffered severe brain damage in both hemispheres when she was struck with enough force that she flew through the air.
Crown prosecutor Jess Patterson argued Nikirk showed a pattern of dangerous driving as she headed down Ash Road on that cold, icy morning. Admissions of fact read into the court record show that between 8 a.m. and 8:20 a.m., Nikirk sent 11 text messages and received 13 texts from a 604 number. Leila was struck between 8:15 and 8:16 a.m.
Court heard that Cybanski is a tactical helicopter pilot and an investigator at the Royal Canadian Air Force Directorate of Flight Safety. He is a leader in video analysis and crash-site photogrammetry and briefs safety professionals around the world. Cybanski’s analysis has been employed by both military and civilian accident investigation boards. He was recently awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the Governor General for his work in flight safety.
Cybanski testified that Saanich police asked him to analyze video from the front and rear dash cams on Fellman’s car. They also asked him to analyze two videos taken from a B.C. Transit bus that was in the area that morning.
The video from the rear dash cam indicates Nikirk accelerated to 90 kilometres an hour from 50 as she overtook Fellman’s car, Cybanski testified. Analysis of the video from the front dash indicates the Mercedes accelerated away from Fellman’s car at a speed ranging from 95 to 100 kilometres an hour, Cybanski testified.
He estimated that the margin of error in his calculations ranges from two kilometres an hour to five kilometres an hour.
After overtaking Fellman’s car, the Mercedes passed a B.C. Transit bus going in the opposite direction.
Analyzing two videos from the front and side of the bus, Cybanski estimated the Mercedes was travelling between 80 and 84 kilometres an hour when it passed the bus. He estimated the margin of error in these calculations was plus or minus two kilometres an hour.
Cybanski was also asked to estimate how far the Mercedes travelled through the intersection after striking Leila.
But one of the people who rushed to help Leila asked Nikirk to move her vehicle to make way for the first responders.
Cybanski used video from the front dash camera on Fellman’s car to find where the black SUV initially stopped. He estimated the Mercedes travelled 18 to 20 metres through the east edge of the crosswalk before it stopped.
The trial continues today with evidence from collision experts.