Cab driver found guilty for fatal accident

Published Saturday June 27th, 2009

Downtown | Taxi struck pedestrian in April 2008

A1
By DON MACPHERSON
macpherson.don@dailygleaner.com
Stumble Upon
Digg It
Share on Facebook
Print this article
Email this article
17 Comment(s)

A judge said it was clear that a pedestrian had the right-of-way when he was struck and killed by a cab in downtown Fredericton last year, and he found the cab driver guilty of driving without due care and attention.

Fredericton taxi driver Larry J. McKiel was turning left from York Street onto Brunswick Street at about 11:30 p.m. on April 23, 2008, when his van struck Mark Adams, 25, of Digby, N.S., who was attending university in the city at the time.

Adams was taken to the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital and later transferred to the Saint John Regional Hospital with life-threatening head injuries. He later died.

McKiel was charged with driving without due care and attention and stood trial earlier this month.

A police accident reconstructionist told the court that the van was travelling at about 39-42 kilometres per hour when it struck Adams.

Judge Graydon Nicholas said Friday the evidence indicated the left-turn light had turned amber when McKiel made the decision to make a left from York Street onto Brunswick Street.

By the time he proceeded, though, Adams had a green walk light. The impact threw Adams back 14 metres.

"In my opinion, he (Adams) had the right to use the (crosswalk) at that moment," the judge said.

He found McKiel guilty as charged. Sentencing was set over to Aug. 24 to prepare a pre-sentence report and victim-impact statements.

 

Disabled

Commenting has been disabled for this item. Existing comments appear below but you may not add a new comment at this time.

Comments (17)

All comments are subject to the site Terms of Use. For a full commenting tutorial click here.

Our editorial team relies on filtering technology and our visitor community to identify inappropriate comments. In the event that a site user has submitted offensive content that has evaded our filter, please select the option to Flag As Inappropriate presented within the comment. Thank you for helping to keep this site clean.

i find that the people who drive the city transit around here should realize that they dont always have the right of way, i have been almost hit by the busses in my car and on foot. Maybe they should stop closing there eyes when they drive
17
Thumbs Up
Thumbs Up
11
Thumbs Down
Thumbs Down
a. jewett, fredericton on 27/06/09 03:48:57 PM AST
They dam well should be my friend. Those" 7 ton missiles " as you call them. CAN kill you. Like I said earlier "Pedistrians have the right of way". I wouldn't want to put that on my Grandchildren's headstone. I would sooner teach them to look both ways before they cross the street. That goes for a "7 ton missile" or a 1 tonne car. Pedistrians today, walk in the middle of the street, step off the curb whenever they feel like it, skateboard on the street, jog on the street, you name it. Dig your head out, take a look around, it happens every hour every day.
27
Thumbs Up
Thumbs Up
8
Thumbs Down
Thumbs Down
wayne duncan, fredericton on 27/06/09 07:42:12 PM AST
Good...he gets what he deserves. Let that be a lesson to all those people that run the amber and red lights at every intersection of this city! Maybe the publicity of this will also make cab companies more conscious of the way the maniacs that they have drive. I agree that not all cab drivers are bad...just MOST of them.
13
Thumbs Up
Thumbs Up
15
Thumbs Down
Thumbs Down
A Reader, Fredericton on 28/06/09 01:30:14 AM AST
IN THIS CASE "IT WAS CLEAR THE PEDESTRIAN HAD THE RIGHT OF WAY" AND ENDED UP 14 METRES AWAY....NOT TOO HARD TO SEE WHO'S AT FAULT HERE. I'VE SEEN TAXI DRIVERS WITH THERE HEADS TURNED CLEAR AROUND LAUGHING WITH THE PASSENGERS THEY ARE TRANSPORTING.I'VE ALSO HEARD OF DRIVERS PULLING OVER AFTER PICKING UP PASSENGERS AT A CERTAIN NORTHSIDE BAR AND NO DOUBT OTHER BARS AS WELL ,SHARING TOKES AND OTHER GRATUITIES AND THEN DROPPING OFF THEIR PASSENGERS AND DRIVING TO PICK UP OTHERS FOR THE REST OF THEIR SHIFT.SO I'M SURE THERE ARE LOTS OF INCIDENTS WHERE THE DRIVER IS IN NO SHAPE TO BE GIVING DUE CARE AND ATTENTION TO HIS OR HER DRIVING.BUT LIKE EVERY JOB, THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY ARE ALL IRRESPONSIBLE BY ANY MEANS.
6
Thumbs Up
Thumbs Up
15
Thumbs Down
Thumbs Down
FREDDY N., FREDERICTON on 28/06/09 08:56:05 AM AST
Too many drivers (not just cab drivers) run amber and red lights. Cities like Calgary have greatly reduced this problem - run a light and your ticket is in the mail before you arrive home and forget appealing it. A few stiff fines and people will get the idea.

Add to the problem that we have all be raised to believe that crosswalks are "safe". We should be taught from the time that we learn to walk that crosswalks are NOT safe. There is nothing safe about crossing a road used by cars and trucks.

We also need to be taught that although pedestrians have the right-of-way, those "rights" will be of little personal use if you are killed by the vehicle. I am not suggesting that the pedestrian was at fault. Faultless as he was, he still lost his life.






15
Thumbs Up
Thumbs Up
1
Thumbs Down
Thumbs Down
Rao B, Anywhere on 01/07/09 12:16:27 AM AST
Not all Cabbies are horrible drivers - the same way not all bus drivers are not good drivers. Not all pedestrians are disrespectful of the walk lights and vehicle traffic. My husband (a military police officer) and one other pedestrian were almost hit a couple of months ago by a transit bus on King Street running a red light. They had the walk light. My point is that pedestrians must be aware of whats going on around them. The walk light being lit is not a Star Trek force field. What the city and province needs are red light cameras, police officers to enforce violations, and judges to send clear messages that running over people who have the lights to walk will not be tolerated.

I've been cut off in the cross walks in Fredericton by city and NB Power vehicles, honked at while I was crawling up the curb after slipping on ice in the intersection on Regent Street being jestured to hurry up. Jay walking is far safer.
3
Thumbs Up
Thumbs Up
0
Thumbs Down
Thumbs Down
Faith B., Charters Settlement on 03/07/09 09:06:56 AM AST
Freddy N must be speaking from experience,cause how would you know about a certain bar if you wern't there yourself. It's a shame what happened to that university student , maybe he was walking in a don't walk sign, Maybe the cab driver was talking on his radio. who knows ,only him for sure.They do speed alot on account they are not payed by the hour but 40% Of there total income for the shift. 12 hours shift for 50 bucks ,good money eh. less than min wage. If the city would regulate the fairs the drivers wouldn't half to drive like maniacs to make a living. There own fault should have got a good education. Life is about choices.
0
Thumbs Up
Thumbs Up
0
Thumbs Down
Thumbs Down
kevin m., fredericton on 03/07/09 08:08:55 PM AST
All comments are subject to these Terms of Use
Advertisement
Advertisement

Search Articles

More CE Network Sites & Partners: