In June 2000, a coroner’s inquest was launched into an 87-vehicle pileup (60 cars, 27 trucks) on Highway 401 near Windsor that killed eight people the previous fall. The strip of four-lane highway between Windsor and Chatham was nicknamed “Carnage Alley” after crashes on the highway killed 28 people in six months.
The coroner’s inquest made many recommendations, including reinstating photo radar, paving the gravel shoulders of the highway and widening it to six lanes from four. But none of the work has been done.
January 2002 — A 25-year-old mother and her four children are killed when their minivan is rear-ended by a semi-tractor trailer – only six km from the scene of the September 1999 pileup.
Canadians spend thousands of dollars to make their automobiles safer. Yet, tragedies occur. The goal is to prevent a similar scenario from happening again.
That should be the basis of a coroner’s inquest.
An inquest is often ordered to investigate the cause of death in fatal accidents and to make recommendations about how to avoid such tragedies in the future. But what’s the point of these inquests if the recommendations do not get implemented?
Consider the coroner’s inquest into the 1999 shooting deaths of four OC Transpo bus drivers. The coroner’s jury made 77 recommendations on how to improve safety in the workplace of OC Transpo, as well as many government departments. Many of the recommendations have been implemented, but many have not.
These recommendations are made to improve safety, but they are useless unless they are enforced or made mandatory.
Coroners’ inquests need more teeth. The recommendations need to be implemented by law, otherwise the inquest will be a waste of tax payers’ time and money. Recommendations often come from a coroner’s jury made up of average citizens — a big reason why the suggestions aren’t always followed up.
The coroners’ juries should include members of the public and experts who can make informed decisions. The average citizen can then contribute to making the necessary recommendations, while the experts will be able to provide a “sober second thought” when needed.
Ontario Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced the province will spend $102 million to widen the Queensway West of the city, as well as other major roads in the Ottawa area. If the government can afford hundreds of millions of dollars to repair our deteriorated highways, then it should follow up on the coroner’s inquest and find a way to improve the death trap that is “Carnage Alley.”
It’s time the federal and provincial governments follow up on coroners’ recommendations, or get rid of the inquests altogether. It’s our tax dollars that are spent on inquests, so put the money to better use.
Sure it will cost even more money to implement the recommendations, but it’s the price we should be willing to pay for the safety and security of all Canadians.
— Jason Fekete