The father of the children killed by a Trucker with his eyes glued to his cell phone Last year, Ontario found the five-year sentence to be inadequate.
“The number of years in prison does not change the outcome of the tragedy, but it sends a strange message.” For me it is much more than negligence. When you drive a truck, you only have one job, and that is to monitor the road,” said Jean-Philippe Giroux, Émerik and Maélie’s father.
The children, ages 7 and 3, died on April 18, 2022 on Highway 401 near Belleville, Ontario. They were sitting in the car with their mother, grandmother and uncle when they were hit head-on by a tractor-trailer.
Vehicle owned by Anik Legault and his family. Her children Émerik and Maélie and her mother Chantal Dendooven-Legault were killed. Courtesy of the Ontario Court. Courtesy of the Ontario Court
The driver, Mehakdeep Singh, didn't notice the line of vehicles in front of him slowing down, he was too engrossed in the screen of his cell phone, which he was holding in one hand.
He crashed at full speed into the vehicle in which Mr. Giroux's children were traveling. They were sitting in the back of the car and had no chance. Her grandmother Chantal Dendooven-Legault, 68, also died. The children's mother, Anik Legault, and her uncle Erik, who was sitting in the front seat, were barely injured.
Anik Legault (wearing headband) with her twin brother Érik at a restaurant in Toronto, shortly before their mother Chantal Dendooven-Legault and her children Maélie (3) and Émerik (7) died in a violent collision in Ontario in April 2022. Free photo
The offending trucker was betrayed by surveillance cameras that filmed both the cab of his truck and the road in front of him.
The fatal collision was therefore fully recorded. In the video, he can be seen staring at his phone until a second before the impact.
He was also distracted for many minutes before the collision. We see him mechanically and half-heartedly monitoring the street while simultaneously watching his cell phone.
He ignored a sign on the side of the road warning that a slowdown was coming soon. In the images from the camera filming the lane in front of his truck, you can even see the taillights of the cars braking in front of him in the distance.
Mehkadeep Singh was looking at his cell phone seconds before the fatal collision. Courtesy of the Ontario Court of Justice. Courtesy of the Ontario Court of Justice
“For me, driving with a cell phone in hand is the same as driving under the influence,” commented Mr. Giroux.
Worse still, Mehakdeep Singh should never have been out that day. The then 26-year-old was no longer allowed to drive because he spent too many hours behind the wheel.
In fact, the investigation revealed that he had falsified his logbook. Because of his incorrect entries into the system, he should have been banned from the road for 72 hours.
He was recently convicted of dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm. He received five years in prison, a sentence that reflected his sincere remorse and his clean criminal record.
Courtesy of the Ontario Court
“We suspect he will not spend five years in prison. “My sentence is life imprisonment,” complained Mr. Giroux. [Après le drame a] A separation followed. One day I had a happy family and the next day I had nothing.”
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