Charges laid in Cape Breton crash between school bus and abandoned trailer

Charges have been laid against a man who police say abandoned a trailer that was later crashed into by a school bus in January on Cape Breton’s Highway 105.

The driver of the tractor-trailer is a 63-year-old man from Truro, N.S., RCMP Cpl. Jennifer Clarke said in an email on Thursday.

The driver’s charges are failing to place and maintain flares at the front and rear of a disabled commercial vehicle, stopping or parking where traffic would be obstructed, and parking a commercial vehicle on a highway for longer than two consecutive hours.

When Global News looked into the story in April, it was revealed that staff with Nova Scotia’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal (TIR) had spotted the abandoned trailer five hours before the crash but decided not to take action.

“The scene was not determined to impede public safety,” TIR spokesperson Marla MacInnis said in an email in April.

READ MORE: Abandoned trailer on Cape Breton highway did not ‘impede public safety’: N.S. government

The collision happened near the crest of Kelly’s Mountain on Jan. 12 shortly after 8 a.m. Eleven students were in the bus at the time.

The bus driver was pinned by the damage in the collision but conscious as first responders took about three hours to free him with the Jaws of Life. He was later airlifted to hospital.

Students who were inside the bus sustained minor injuries.

RCMP Cpl. Dal Hutchinson said the tractor-trailer driver has been issued three summary offence tickets.

“If you have an abandoned vehicle or, in this case, it was a trailer from a tractor-trailer, it’s parked on the travel portion of the highway or if it’s on the shoulder, it needs to have flares lit and visible given the nighttime hours that this initially took place, prior to the collision,” he said.

“Our investigators came to the determination that flares were not present.”

The flares are supposed to be in place between 30 minutes before sunset and 30 minutes after sunrise, Hutchinson said.

TIR staff saw the trailer multiple times, including at about 3 a.m., MacInnis said.

“Staff noted that emergency triangles were appropriately set up approaching the trailer and there was clear visibility of the scene during the early morning hours. There is a second lane on this stretch of road and it was determined motorists had the ability to safely get around the trailer,” MacInnis said.

The staff noted the trailer’s presence again at about 7 a.m., she said.

“The emergency triangles remained in place and it was a clear morning with good visibility and driving conditions. The scene was not determined to impede public safety,” MacInnis said. “As per section 142 of the MVA, in lieu of a flare, emergency reflectors may be used instead.”

In an email sent on Friday, she said: “Our comments in April are in line with what our staff witnessed on the day of the collision. We were not involved in law enforcement’s investigation that led to these charges and couldn’t speak to their decision to lay them. This matter is now before the courts and it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment any further.”

Investigators conducted a mechanical inspection of the bus, examined the trailer, and collected witness statements, Hutchinson said. The investigation is ongoing and more charges are not expected to be laid.

READ MORE: N.S. school bus driver seriously injured in Cape Breton highway crash

The tractor-trailer driver seemed to have left only two warning triangles behind the truck after it broke down the previous night, RCMP Const. Eric Latwaitis told The Canadian Press at the time.

He said he has never before seen a truck abandoned on a road in that way: “Never to this extent, right into the middle of the lane.”