Dump truck driver found guilty in deadly crash
The driver of a dump truck that crashed along Quarry Road in Severn Township three years ago has been found guilty of dangerous driving causing death.
“I am very relieved that justice was done. Very very relieved. The old line it’s not going to bring them back, but justice is done. We were here for John. We were here as a family. You know my son, my daughter they were; it’s bonded us together and yeah, we miss him but justice was served,” said Mary Louise Bull, John’s wife of 39 years.
38-year-old Vincent Vallee was convicted by Justice Susan Healey inside a Barrie courtroom for the crash that killed John Bull around noon on Feb., 5, 2021.
Justice Healey found beyond a reasonable doubt Vallee was driving well above the posted speed limit and advisory warning in the moments before the deadly crash at a curve in the road approaching St. Amant Road.
“This is something that the driver will have to live with for the rest of his life but in retrospect my dad‘s life was cut way too short because of this, so that’s the biggest thing out of it,” said Justine Bull, daughter of John.
The court heard during the trial Vallee’s dump truck failed to negotiate the curve in the road and crossed the centre line before hitting the GMC Jimmy driven by Bull. The 60-year-old was killed instantly in the crash. His overturned vehicle was found to have sustained significant damage to its driver’s side.
Justice Healey found Vallee ought to have slowed down and heeded the posted warning before the curve on the roadway he’d travelled many times before. The judge also found that weather and road conditions did not play a role in the crash.
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The court heard Vallee lost control of his dump truck, failed to negotiate the curve in the road and fully crossed into the westbound single lane. His heavy commercial vehicle then sideswiped Bull’s and knocked it into a ditch before crashing into a snowbank and, seconds later, returning to the eastbound side of the road.
Vallee surrendered his driver’s licence before he left the courthouse.
A sentencing date is scheduled to be set in late May.
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