Crown and defence outline cases in Westboro bus crash trial
Posted Mar 23, 2021 11:34:00 AM.
The trial of Aissatou Diallo, the OC Transpo driver involved in the fatal Westboro bus crash in 2019, began Monday with both the Crown and the defence presenting their cases.
Assistant Crown attorney Louise Tansey told the courts the rookie driver, who had only driven the route past Westboro Station two times prior to the crash, relinquished her professional responsibility, noting brakes were not adequately applied, the driver was speeding, and never steered clear of the shelter at Westboro Station.
The court also heard an inspection report indicating the double-decker bus was in proper mechanical order before and after the crash, the road conditions were ideal at the time, and the driver had the sun visor down and sunglasses on.
Defence lawyer Solomon Friedman told the court confusion arose over temporary orange lane markers on the transitway, located about 90 metres from where the bus collided. The markers were installed during construction in 2018 to divert bus traffic. The City of Ottawa opted to cover the markers with black paint but the paint faded over time.
According to Friedman, Diallo had roughly five seconds between seeing the markers for the shelter, after colliding with the curb.
The court also heard that while she was experiencing shock from the collision, Diallo was able to call dispatch for help, with her first priority being the safety of the passengers onboard.
The 44-year-old driver has pleaded not guilty to 35 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm, and three counts of dangerous driving causing death.
Day two of the trial is expected to get underway Tuesday, March 23, at 10 a.m. The trial is anticipated to last approximately eight weeks.
