Driver found not guilty in 2019 fatal Ottawa transit bus crash
The Ottawa bus driver charged in the fatal 2019 Westboro bus crash has been found not guilty on all charges.
Aissatou Diallo, 44, faced three counts of dangerous driving causing death and 35 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm in relation to the crash more than two-and-a-half years ago.
A judge rendered his verdict Wednesday morning, calling the case "tragic."
"The degree of human pain and loss suffered by so many has not eluded me," Justice Matthew Webber said in his ruling. "However, to convict Ms. Diallo would be to cast the net far too wide."
Three people died and nearly two-dozen others were injured when the double-decker OC Transpo bus Diallo was driving crashed into the overhanging shelter at the Westboro bus station.
Diallo's lawyers argued that there were a number of factors that led to the crash, including lane markings on the road left over from construction that misled her. Her lawyer said on Wednesday she never should have been charged.
"This is a case where charges never should have been laid," her lawyer Solomon Friedman told reporters after the verdict. "She did her very, very best under unbelievably challenging circumstances," he said.
"All you need to do is watch the video. See the blinding sun, see the lights, see the road markings that should have been obliterated properly but never were...when you take that in concert with the ice and snow-filled gutter on the side of the road, Ms. Diallo didn't have a chance."
Bruce Thomlinson, 56, Judy Booth, 57, and Anja Van Beek, 65, were killed in the crash.
The three victims from the fatal OC Transpo bus crash on January 11, 2019. Bruce Thomlinson (left), Judy Booth (centre), Anja Van Beek (right)
Members of Thomlinson and Booth's family were in the courtroom for the verdict.
Booth’s daughter broke down in tears when the not-guilty verdict was read out.
Mayor Jim Watson said the verdict will be difficult for some people to hear.
"We may not like the decision, but we have to support it," he said. "This has obviously been stressful for the drive herself, as you can well imagine ... but our first thoughts of course are with the family and friends of the three individuals who lost their lives on that tragic day."
More to come...
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report. Of the 15 most polluted cities in the two countries, 14 were in Canada.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
WATCH LIVE As former prime minister Mulroney lies in state, public tributes in Ottawa begin
Members of the public who wish to pay tribute to Brian Mulroney can visit his casket in Ottawa starting this afternoon.
BREAKING Roy McMurtry, former Ontario attorney general, dies at 91
CTV News has confirmed that former Ontario attorney general Roy McMurtry has died.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
DEVELOPING Canada's annual inflation rate ticked down to 2.8 per cent in February, defying expectations
Statistics Canada says the annual inflation rate edged down to 2.8 per cent in February.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.