Delta fights lawsuit by family of Alexa Middelaer

The corporation of Delta was in court Monday seeking to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the family of Alexa Middelaer, the four-year-old girl who was killed by an impaired driver in 2008.

Alexa’s parents allege that Delta, one of a number of defendants in the case, was negligent by failing to do enough to reduce the speed of vehicles on 64th Street at the time of the collision.

In particular, it’s alleged that speed bumps were placed too close to one another and were therefore a contributing or causal factor in the tragedy.

But a lawyer for Delta told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Peter Leask that there was no evidence of a link between the speed bumps and the fatal accident.

Lanny Robinson noted that there had been only one accident in four years along the road — the one that claimed Alexa’s life — and that 500,000 vehicles travelled along the route every year.

“This is a one-in-two-million event,” he told the judge.

Carol Ann Berner, the driver of the vehicle that struck Alexa, is also a named defendant but has not filed a response to the lawsuit and is not represented at the trial.

It’s alleged that Berner, who was convicted of impaired driving causing death, impaired driving causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing bodily harm, drove without due care and attention and without reasonable consideration for others using the highway.

Berner, who was sentenced to 30 months in jail, appealed her conviction in November and is awaiting a decision on that appeal. She remains out on bail pending the appeal.

ICBC has joined the lawsuit as a third party. Its position in the case is that Berner was in breach of her insurance coverage at the time of the collision.

Also named as a defendant is Alexa’s aunt, Daphne Middelaer, who was injured in the crash.

It’s been alleged that she parked her vehicle dangerously close to the side of the road and failed to keep a proper lookout.

A lawyer for the aunt is also expected to seek to have the claims against her dismissed.

The criminal trial heard that on May 17, 2008, the collision occurred after Alexa and her aunt had stopped to feed the horses on the side of the road while the little girl’s grandparents waited in a car nearby.

Berner’s vehicle, travelling northbound on 64th Street, struck the parked vehicle and veered into the adjacent field, killing Alexa and seriously injuring her aunt.