A Chilliwack dump truck driver has pleaded guilty and been fined $1,000 under the Motor Vehicle Act for his role in the death of a cyclist in North Vancouver.
The collision happened outside Centennial Theatre on March 6, 2023. Christopher Shawn Basque, 42, was driving a load of material away from the Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre construction site when he stopped at the corner of 23rd Steet and Lonsdale Avenue, planning to turn north onto Lonsdale.
At the time, Annie Auclair was riding her bike between the truck and the curb. Basque had an advanced green and was turning right into the intersection but Auclair had advanced forward past the stop line.
He struck her with the front right tire of his truck, knocking her to the ground and running her over. He had completed the right turn and was facing north on Lonsdale before he knew what had happened, the court heard.
Bystanders attempted first aid but Auclair was pronounced dead at Lions Gate Hospital “within minutes.”
There was a sign at the intersection indicating that the right lane was for right-turns only, except for cyclists, though a utility pole was blocking the view of the sign, the judge acknowledged, adding that the City of North Vancouver has since reconfigured the lane.
After an investigation by the RCMP’s Integrated Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service, Basque was later charged with driving without due care and attention.
Basque appeared in North Vancouver Provincial Court on Feb. 28 and pleaded guilty.
The Crown sought a $1,000 fine and a six-month driving ban, arguing that being at the wheel of a vehicle of that size requires a “high duty of care to drive with due care and attention.”
Basque’s lawyer Kyla Lee took no issue with the size of the fine but cautioned about the collateral consequences of a driving ban. Although Basque no longer drives a dump truck, he does continue to work as a professional driver and a ban would leave him bankrupt and unable to support his daughter and his wife who lives with disabilities.
Given the chance to speak for himself before sentencing, Basque declined, but Lee emphasized how her client’s life had been changed by the fatal collision.
“He has repeatedly expressed to me that he lives every day with knowing the harm that this incident has caused and having to wear somebody’s death and his involvement in that on his soul,” she said. “He describes that he is traumatized from this incident, but it has also made him pay extra attention, anytime he’s on the road, for cyclists and pedestrians, and when he’s driving around big commercial trucks.”
Ultimately, Harris agreed that Basque’s remorse was genuine and that he would become a more careful driver as a result, finding that no driving ban was necessary.
“In all the circumstances, as pointed out by both council quite fairly, that Ms. Auclair had some responsibility for how she was riding. That said, we encounter on a daily basis, other vehicles and pedestrians that are not compliant with the law. That does not absolve us as drivers to maintain a lookout and drive with proper care and attention,” Judge Reginald Harris said. “In this case, from all the facts presented, what has transpired, in my view, was an overlap of unfortunate events that led to this tragedy, and it was momentary on Mr. Masque’s behalf, to not have a fulsome look out in all areas of this vehicle prior to moving forward.”
Harris acknowledged that a Motor Vehicle Act charge and punishment carry less severity than a Criminal Code one, but he said it was the correct choice by the Crown.
“The fine imposed is in no way reflective of the value of the human life. One of the hallmarks of the democratic society is one that exercises restraint and proportionality in sentencing, and in this particular case, I’m sentencing a regulatory offence with a momentary lapse that ultimately ended up in tragic consequences.”
