ST. JOHN’S – St. John’s lawyer Ches Crosbie has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Newfoundland and Labrador government over moose-vehicle accidents.
Moose were introduced to the province about 100 years ago. The class action alleges wildlife management practices have allowed the moose population to reach between 120,000 and 200,000 animals.
There are 700 to 800 moose-vehicle accidents a year.
Crosbie notes in his statement of claim that life on the island of Newfoundland was wiped out in the last glaciation and when plant and animal species developed 18,000 years ago, moose were not among them.
In the early 1900s, the defendant decided to bring moose to the island for the purpose of releasing them and populating the island, reads the statement of claim, adding there is no natural predator other than black bears, that prey on young calves.
The class action alleges the province’s highway system has been constructed and maintained without adequate consideration to moose-vehicle safety issues.
In collisions at highway speeds – roughly 70 to 110 kilometres per hour – a car’s bumper and front grill typically will break a moose’s legs, causing the body of the moose to clear the car hood and deliver the bulk of the body weight into the windshield, crushing the windshield, front roof support beams and anyone in the front seat.
The claim states certain steps could have been taken, such as fencing, controlling vegetation along roadsides, increased moose hunting and a spring cull.
It also blames the province for not properly documenting the number and location of moose accidents and moose warnings from motorists, and for the lack of a consistent awareness program.
Hugh George, 59, and Ben Bellows, 54, are the representative plaintiffs in the class action.
Bellows’ accident occurred 10 kilometres west of Clarenville, in eastern Newfoundland on July 10, 2003. Bellows, according to the statement of claim, was travelling 92 km/h when he struck the moose.
He ended up a quadriplegic, and neither he nor his wife, Helen, have been able to work since the accident because of the care required for Bellows, who had been a school board maintenance worker.
It’s been five months since George’s life was forever altered, and he remains in an extended-care facility in St. John’s.
He said his left field of vision is gone, and while rehabilitation is helping his left leg, his left arm remains mostly immobile and it’s unlikely he will return to his previous job as a foreman/carpenter.
His wife, Sandra, said she wrote Environment Minister Charlene Johnson about her husband’s accident, pleading for more attention on the dangers of moose. Not long afterwards, she heard the news that a 22-year-old man was killed in another collision with a moose.
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