The tragic toll of careless driving
Upbeat mother of 2 was linchpin of close Filipino-Canadian family
Virginia Parucha collapsed in court describing the devastation a driver inflicted on her family by killing her 38-year-old daughter on a sidewalk outside the Rogers Centre.
“I don’t feel like doing anything in my life,” she said Thursday through sobs before her legs buckled and court staff and crying family members rushed forward to help get her to a seat.
Algie Parucha, a vendor standing with her sister Allane at their Bremner Ave. market stand, died from massive blunt force trauma after Audrey Thomas’s Mercedes SUV slammed into her and then a retaining wall last June.
Court heard the upbeat mom of two boys was the linchpin and emotional heart of an exceptionally close-knit Filipino-Canadian family. The oldest of four children, she had just launched, with a sister and sister-in-law, a boutique selling handmade hair accessories for kids.
Her death is one of several profiled by the Star in a series on pedestrians and cyclists perishing on Toronto streets at an alarming rate, and the relatively paltry penalties routinely handed out to Ontario motorists who kill.
Thomas, who expressed deep remorse to the Parucha family in a statement read by her lawyer, pleaded guilty to careless driving under the Highway Traffic Act.
The Mississauga resident received a $1,000 fine and probation that bars her from driving for six months, except for work, medical appointments and emergencies.
Justice of the Peace David Keilty accepted the sentence proposed jointly by the defence and the Crown, noting it was “at the high end” of punishments given out for careless driving.
Thomas was stopped behind a truck that began to roll backwards. She veered into a right-turn lane to avoid it, court heard, but continued at speed over a curb and into the market stand. She never explained why she didn’t brake.
The day was bright, roads were dry and her vehicle worked fine.
“If I could somehow take back my actions on that day, I certainly would,” Thomas said in a statement read by lawyer Lambert Kwok as she sat beside him, sometimes quietly crying. The hotel chef replays the crash in her mind, wondering what she should have done differently, and thinks constantly about Parucha’s young sons growing up motherless.
“I always feel that my life is over . . . ”, her statement said, and shame makes her hide from friends and family.
“I will have this on my shoulders for as long as I live. I pray and ask all of you for forgiveness and sincerely ask all of you to accept my deepest apology.”
Allane Parucha told court her big sister was her best f riend and the family’s event planner, emergency co-ordinator and travel agent.
Family trips included 17 of them camping together in Algonquin Park.
“She was the glue that held us together,” Parucha said, sobbing. “We are desperately trying to keep it together but it is very difficult. My family’s broken and . . . it can never be whole again.”
Allane, who suffered minor injuries in the crash, said she suffers “survivor’s guilt.”
Theoretically, killer motorists can face up to 10 years in jail under a criminal charge of dangerous driving causing injury or, for the traffic charge of careless driving, up to six months in jail and a fine of $2,000.
Legal observers say courts hardly ever give the maximums and usually accept plea bargains to less serious charges. There are many examples of motorists paying less than $1,000 for actions that killed a person.
Drivers are not compelled to attend court for provincial charges, mean- ing grieving family members sometimes give impact statements to rooms empty except for people paid to be there.
Friends & Families for Safe Streets has been pushing the Ontario government since last fall to adopt “vulnerable road user” laws, with significantly tougher penalties and compulsory court attendance for motorists, for those who kill or severely injure a pedestrian or cyclist.
Kari Cuss, a spokesperson for Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca, said the government’s “thoughts and prayers” are with the Paruchas.
She noted the government recently proposed changes to make school zones safer and said the ministry continues to consult its “road safety partners” on other ways to protect pedestrians.
“We are making significant progress toward a comprehensive strategy and look forward to having more to say as we move into the late spring.”