Trial underway for City of Lethbridge employee charged with dangerous driving causing death

A five-day trial for a City of Lethbridge employee who was behind the wheel of a front-end loader hit by a minivan in 2015 began Monday.

The driver of the van, 72-year-old Alan Johnston, died shortly after due to his injuries.

A number of Lethbridge police officers took the stand for day one,  including the lead investigator, Const. Ross Bond with the traffic unit.

An agreed statement of facts (ASF) was the first exhibit entered in the trial.

Scott Erickson was operating a front-end loader on Nov. 13, 2015, around 3:30 p.m., on Whoop Up Drive westbound.

Johnston crashed into the loader. He suffered life-threatening injuries and had to be extricated from the vehicle. He was transported to the Chinook Regional Hospital where he later died.

A number of officers testified there was sun glare for westbound drivers, causing difficulty to see.

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The ASF stated the crash data retrieval unit in Johnston’s van indicated there was no braking until one second prior to the crash.

The van’s speed was documented at 76 km/h until the brakes were applied — then the van dropped to 59 km/h when the collision occurred.

Erickson was employed by the City of Lethbridge as a snow watch-removal employee.

Erickson stated he was tasked with checking Whoop Up Drive conditions hourly in a taped interview with Bond.

His lawyer, Balfour Der, said this was part of a new city initiative implemented just one month prior to the crash.

“Four senior operators were designated to be persons whose job it was to monitor the roads, particularly Whoop Up, and if something needed to be done, to spring into action.” Der added Erickson was one of the four.

Erickson indicated there were no warning signs, flag person or pilot vehicle with him, but said the loader had flashing lights.

He told Bond he thought the job would only take a few minutes and the amount of time it would take would not warrant a pilot truck.

He did say, however, later in his videotaped statement, he was on Whoop Up for about 30 minutes before the crash.

Bond testified he understood Erickson to be crossing three lanes of traffic, scooping snow against the median, then travelling back across the three lanes of Whoop Up to dump the snow on the green space beside the roadway.

Erickson said he knew drivers could see him because they were changing lanes before they got to him on Whoop Up, but he noted traffic flow had started to increase so he was going to leave.

“As he looked back, he could see that the driver wasn’t looking at him and just ran right into him,” said Der.

City managers are expected to take the stand and testify during day two of the trial. They will testify to snow-removal policies and procedures that were in place at the time of the crash.