| Fatal crash may be result of school bus driver falling asleep |
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| Written by Brandon Anson | ||
| Monday, 22 March 2010 21:23 | ||
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A driver of a private school bus may have fallen asleep at the wheel shortly before the fatal crash that took the life of nine-year-old Kathelynn Occena. Const. Robert Pughe of the Calgary Police Service Traffic Unit testified at the beginning of a fatality inquiry on Monday that the bus' driver, Louise Rogers, told him inside of his police cruiser that she wasn't aware of what had caused the crash on Crowchild Trail S.W. on Oct. 17, 2007. "She admitted that she could have fallen asleep and that was about it, she was pretty upset about
what happened," Pughe told Alberta Solicitor General counsel Christine Nugent. He then decided to transport Rogers to the Foothills Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Court heard that Pughe was informed of Occena's death prior to leaving for the hospital, but he did not inform Rogers of the news until after arriving at the hospital and placing her under medical care. "She was very distraught ... almost suicidal at that point because of what had occurred," said Pughe of Rogers after she learned of the death of Occena. Pughe said Rogers admitted to listening to her iPod at the time of the crash, but could not find evidence supporting reports by young passengers that Rogers was "driving crazy" and talking on her cell phone. Rogers, a driver for Third Academy International, was driving a school bus to Mountain View Academy when it crashed into a broken down Freightliner dump truck on the 1500 block of Crowchild S.W. before smashing into a light pole. Kathelynn Occena died from "multiple blunt injuries," said provincial lawyer Nancy McCurdy. Occena's younger sister Julie and two other children were seriously hurt in the crash. Pughe testified that Rogers had two cell phones with her at the time of the crash, one being a TELUS Mobility Mike phone given to her by Third Academy. Pughe said records gathered from TELUS Mobility show that Rogers was not using her phone at the time of the crash, which was estimated to have occurred at 8:26 a.m. Court heard that Rogers was taking sleeping pills and thyroid medication, but an RCMP toxicology report done on blood taken from Rogers at the Foothills Hospital showed low levels of the drugs in her system, according to Pughe. Pughe said Rogers was charged under the Traffic Safety Act for careless driving and pleaded guilty. Rogers was fined $2,000 and banned from driving for three months. Under cross-examination from defence counsel Frank Tosto, representing Third Academy, Pughe told the court the owner of the Freightliner dump truck, had been served three traffic violations. Pughe called the truck "not road worthy" and agreed with Tosto that the dump truck should not have been left abandoned in its poor mechanical condition on the shoulder of Crowchild Trail S.W. No charges relating to the incident with the school bus have been laid against the numbered company with which the dump truck is registered,. Pughe said the investigation into the crash had the officers under his command interviewing all southbound travellers who witnessed the crash. Pughe told the court that none of the witnesses saw Roger's school bus driving in a reckless or aggressive manner. Occena's family was not in attendance Monday, nor was Rogers. It is not known when or if Rogers will testify. The outcome of the inquiry, headed by provincial court Judge Bruce Fraser, is to discover if improvements to school bus driving training and traffic safety overall can prevent similar accidents from occurring in the future. Fraser said in an opening statement that the inquiry can make recommendations, but no criminal charges can be laid from its findings. The inquiry continues on March 23 and will conclude on April 6. |
