A truck driver from Lanaudière is accused of causing the death of a 9-year-old girl in a violent collision when he allegedly failed to make his mandatory stop in the summer of 2022.
• Also read: Serious accident in Lanaudière: One of the two children dies from his injuries
“It's as if the driver had a gun in his hand. When he did not stop, he caused extremely serious consequences,” said Crown prosecutor ME Juliette Gauthier Soucy during the Dany Lessard release inquiry.
The 43-year-old was charged last June with dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing bodily harm. However, these allegations have so far remained under the media radar.
Dany Lessard is charged with dangerous driving causing death. Photo from Dany Lessard's Facebook account
On July 15, 2022, the experienced truck driver never slowed down as he approached the intersection of Chemin du Ruisseau-Saint-Jean and Chemin Louis-Philippe-Lesage in Saint-Roch-de-l'. Bass.
Another vehicle with a man and two nine-year-old twins on board was hit head-on while turning left.
Under the force of the impact, the Honda Accord was thrown several meters before it ended its journey onto private property, it was said at the time.
One of the girls, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, died in hospital a few hours later. The other suffered significant injuries.
Confessions
Lessard quickly called 911 after the crash and said, “We didn't make our stop,” he was told in court last July.
The Maskinongé resident is said to have made a similar confession to two different police officers in the hours after the accident.
According to the reconstructor's report, the heavy vehicle was traveling at 96 km/h a few meters before the intersection, while the maximum permissible speed in this zone is 80 km/h. At the time of impact the speed was 87 km/h.
Dany Lessard's truck was barely damaged in the collision. Maxime Deland Archives / QMI Agency
“I'm not from here. I didn't see the vehicle coming towards me at the intersection. When I saw him, I realized he wasn't hitchhiking,” said the driver of the car in which the girls were. hinted at in his video statement to police.
Already passed
The defendant, co-owner of a transport company in the area, is said to have driven through this intersection twice in the hours before the tragedy.
“The two times he passed that intersection he would have stopped,” Judge François Richard said during the hearing.
The Sûreté du Québec investigation found that alcohol, drugs and cell phone use while driving were not involved in the accident.
Dany Lessard was able to regain his freedom and keep his driver's license while awaiting trial. He will return to the Joliette courthouse in the coming days for further proceedings.
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