The driver of a heavy truck that decimated a Laval family in Ontario in 2021 was a real time bomb: not only was he not allowed to drive, but he also had his eyes on his cell phone a second before the drama, according to a disturbing video obtained from The newspaper.
On April 18, 2021, Mehakdeep Singh, who was driving a Volvo truck, did not notice the line of vehicles in front of him slowing down and stopping. He was too engrossed in the screen of the phone he was holding in one hand. Then a fiery collision occurred on Highway 401 near Belleville, Ontario, leaving two children and their grandmother dead.
The driver was subsequently criminally charged and recently pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death and injury. He received five years in prison.
To convict him, authorities had a damning piece of evidence: a video of him staring at his phone up to a second before the collision.
Vehicle owned by Anik Legault and his family. Her children Émérik and Maélie and her mother Chantal Dendooven-Legault were killed. Courtesy of the Ontario Court. Courtesy of the Ontario Court
Cameras installed in the cab of his truck filmed Mehakdeep Singh and the road in front of him.
Absorbed by his phone
Several minutes before the fatal collision, Mehakdeep Singh looked at his phone for a long time. He monitored the road mechanically and half-heartedly, but most of his attention was focused on his screen. He even briefly took his hands off the steering wheel to use his cell phone before changing his mind.
He then put the device down for a few minutes and picked it up again just under 20 seconds before the impact. The slowdown is already visible in the distance in the camera images that show the path in front of his heavyweight.
He looks up for less than a second before he crashes full speed into the Hyundai Elantra, which slows down in front of him. The truck driver didn't even have time to apply the brakes.
His speed at the time of impact was 105 km/h.
The three passengers in the back seat of the Hyundai had no chance: Émérik, 7 years old, Maélie, 3 years old, and their grandmother Chantal Dendooven-Legault, 68 years old, were killed.
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 2021. Free photo
The children's mother, Anik Legault, and her twin brother Érik, who were sitting in the front seat, were barely injured. The group returned from a weekend in Toronto. The carefree trucker should never have crossed paths with the Laval family.
In fact, the now 26-year-old man was not allowed to sit behind a steering wheel at the time of the collision.
Mehkadeep Singh, at the time of the fatal collision. Courtesy of the Ontario Court of Justice. Courtesy of the Ontario Court of Justice
The police investigation revealed that he had falsified his logbook and thereby violated the permitted length of service for truck drivers.
The company he worked for, Snowflake Express Inc., still used electronic statements in addition to paper statements. Electronic bank statements are now mandatory in Canada.
Difficult forgiveness
Thus, Singh's paper statements differed from the electronic statements.
The mileage of the Volvo truck recorded in the logbook also differed from the movements observed in the videos. And the GPS data did not match the logbook entries recovered at the crime scene.
Mehkadeep Singh's Volvo truck. Courtesy of the Ontario Court. Courtesy of the Ontario Court
The driver should have been taken off the road for 72 hours because of these incorrect entries in the system, as we can read in court documents.
In addition to the five-year prison sentence, he will be banned from driving for seven years. We learned that he would then be threatened with deportation.
“Of course I would have liked a harsher sentence, but in my opinion no sentence for three lives will be enough,” commented Anik Legault, who traveled to Ontario to attend the guilty plea.
Courtesy of the Ontario Court
The driver submitted a letter of apology to the court, but Ms Legault said she did not feel ready to listen to what he had to say.
“I would have been able to forgive more easily if it had been an accident and not repeated dangerous behavior,” she said.
Can you share information about this story?
Write to us or call us directly at 1 800-63SCOOP.