By Mike Davey
Hamilton, Ontario — October 10, 2012 — The lawyer for a Hamilton, Ont. area tow truck driver says his client’s actions were not reckless or unsafe. Ronald Taylor has pleaded not guilty to criminal negligence causing death, and his laywer, Jeffrey Manishen, says he did not exhibit the “marked and substantial departure of care” required of that charge.
The charges date back to an incident in January of 2009, when Taylor was towing a Ford Escort station wagon on Highway 403 in Hamilton, Ont. An oncoming car struck the right end of the carrier Taylor was operating. The car’s driver, Jeyakumar Nadarajah, was killed in the collision.
As part of his closing argument, Manishen noted that a number of other drivers had already passed the carrier without striking it. He also noted that Taylor, with his lights flashing and believing visibility to be good, believed his truck to be visible to oncoming cars.
According to Manishen, Nadarajah’s vehicle was equipped with a black box, data from which shows that his cruise control was on, the brake were not applied in the moments before the crash and the turn signal had not been activated. The black box data also shows that the steering wheel was not turned and that the vehicle was moving at 120 kilometres per hour.
Taylor’s defence continues its closing arguments today. We will keep you updated as more information becomes available.
