Semi driver found guilty in fatal 2020 crash at rural Manitoba highway intersection

CBC News

· Posted: May 26, 2025 10:26 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

A semi-trailer motortruck operator who was progressive successful an mishap that killed a 34-year-old antheral connected a agrarian Manitoba road 5 years agone has been recovered blameworthy of unsafe driving causing death.

Sukhbir Singh was charged with 1 number of unsafe driving causing decease aft helium drove done a halt motion on Highway 13 successful the agrarian municipality of Grey, about 70 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, and collided with a pickup motortruck successful February 2020. 

He was antecedently convicted of unsafe driving successful this case, but successful 2023, an entreaty tribunal decided the archetypal proceedings justice misinterpreted photograph evidence, starring to a miscarriage of justice and an unfair trial.

The entreaty tribunal overturned Singh's condemnation and ordered a caller trial. 

In a May 14 decision, Associate Chief Justice Shane Perlmutter of the Manitoba Court of King's Bench also recovered Singh guilty.  

Singh was driving a semi-trailer motortruck south on Highway 13 astir 6 a.m. connected Feb. 28, 2020, and drove done a halt motion astatine the Highway 2 intersection, the determination said.

He was moving arsenic a transportation operator and had a valid licence to run a semi-trailer truck. 

Road signs bespeak that drivers connected Highway 13 are required to halt astatine this intersection, portion those connected Highway 2 are not, the ineligible filing said. 

Andrew Labossiere, 34, was driving his pickup motortruck eastbound connected Highway 2 and deed Singh's semi connected the rider broadside arsenic helium entered the intersection. 

Labossiere's motortruck was pushed into the southwest ditch and helium died.  

'Enhanced duty': Crown

The Crown argued commercialized semi drivers "owe an enhanced duty" to different roadworthy users. The authoritative said Singh's actions were a "marked departure" from the modular of attraction expected of a operator successful his position, the determination said. 

Singh did not attest during the trial. His defence lawyers did not quality that helium had failed to halt astatine the intersection, nor did they reason that helium deed the brakes excessively precocious to prevent the collision. 

His defence argued that the Crown's lawsuit is based connected the beingness of functioning informing signals — specified arsenic flashing lights, disposable halt lines and unobstructed rumble strips — but grounds doesn't beryllium their beingness astatine the clip of the accident. 

The grounds included successful Perlmutter's determination showed the halt motion had a reddish flashing light, but the flash pattern, wattage and however acold it illuminated astatine the clip of the clang were unknown. There is simply a reflective informing motion 250 metres earlier the intersection, with 2 rumble strips connected the road adjacent this point. 

Police testified that the roadworthy was well-maintained passim the wintertime and nary crystal was connected it astatine the time, the determination said. 

The grounds included successful Perlmutter's determination says Singh was sober and had gotten capable sleep. Cellphone investigation showed helium was connected an 18-minute telephone telephone earlier the crash, but it wasn't wide if helium was utilizing a hands-free device. 

An mishap reconstruction adept testified that Singh was going 85 km/h erstwhile the collision happened, and helium hit his brakes 1.5 seconds aft interaction already occurred. The adept said Singh began to respond a 2nd earlier impact, but didn't person capable clip oregon region to forestall the crash.  

While the Crown argued Singh owed a greater work of attraction arsenic a semi driver, Perlmutter said it was "unnecessary" to determine connected those grounds. 

Instead, his determination was based connected his presumption that a "reasonable person" would beryllium "highly attentive to their surroundings" portion driving a semi connected a acheronian wintertime morning.  

"Mr. Singh's nonaccomplishment to comprehend and respond to each of the warnings was a marked departure from the modular of attraction expected of a tenable idiosyncratic successful Mr. Singh's circumstances,"  Perlmutter wrote. 

The justice said helium was satisfied beyond a tenable uncertainty that Singh deviated from the level of attraction owed to different motorists and recovered Singh guilty.

"This was much than a momentary lapse of attention.  It was a nonaccomplishment to observe aggregate warnings implicit respective 100 feet of highway," Perlmutter wrote.