Editorial – Time To Update The Rules On Roadways for Transport Drivers Before It’s Too Late

Editorial – There are times where condolences just don’t cut it and actions speak louder than words.

Two good people died on August 3, 2017 on Highway 401 near Port Hope.

They were doing nothing wrong. Absolutely nothing.

Todd Gardiner (age 26) and Michael Glazier (age 35) had just left Gardiner’s mothers house in Newcastle.

The cousins were great friends were on their was to celebrate Gardiner’s fathers birthday.

Each loved life and were loved by many.

But around 10 p.m. on Highway 401 eastbound lanes near Port Hope the two men were killed in a collision. Many, many other lives were changed forever.

A transport truck slammed into the back of the cousins pickup truck which was nearly stopped because of construction.

Many other vehicles had stopped – including many transports. But it’s the one that didn’t stop that caused carnage.

The driver plead guilty to two counts of dangerous driving causing death in Superior Court on Thursday, July 8, 2021 in Superior Court in Cobourg.

He was sentenced to three years in penitentiary.

It works out to 1.5 years for each man.

Disgusting.

All family members agree it wasn’t enough.

But Justice Jocelyn Speyer presumably can only go by past cases and how their sentences relates or compares to what happened on August 3, 2017.

It’s tragic, disappointing and would make anyone angry.

But Justice Speyer also said two things in her sentencing that stood out. Something that maybe hasn’t been said enough, or reported on, or maybe, simply, no one listened.

Justice Speyer said at one point, “regrettably, tragedies such as this where drivers of transport trucks operate their massive vehicles dangerously and with catastrophic consequences are not rare events.”

They aren’t.

That’s a fact.

On July 1, 2021 a transport slammed into the back of a vehicle on Highway 401 eastbound lanes near Wesleyville.

Emergency crews were on site dealing with a vehicle fire on the shoulder of the highway. The lone occupant was airlifted. OPP along with SIU are investigating. At this point the investigation is continuing.

On June 6, 2021, Northumberland OPP charged a transport driver with impaired driving. The driver was hauling 57,000 litres of highly flammable fuel when he was pulled over around 10 a.m. The case is still before the courts.

On June 2, 2021 a transport went in the ditch in rolled on its side blocking two out of the three lanes of Highway 401 just west of Cobourg in the westbound lanes.

On April 15, 2021 a transport driving westbound just west of Cobourg went into the ditch striking a number of trees.

There is an epidemic on our highways and the government isn’t doing enough. And frankly the public isn’t pushing them enough.

These are just incidents that have happened recently on Highway 401 between Cobourg and Port Hope.

Todd Gardiner’s father, Terry told Today’s Northumberland truck drivers need better training.

Calling a transport a “weapon” that can cause “mass destruction” he is absolutely right.

“Thirty-years ago truckers were the best drivers on the road – nowadays no,” he said.

What will it take for the Provincial and Federal Government to act?

People who create the laws should talk to the people who enforce them.

Talk to seasoned OPP officers who see needless carnage happening on the highways.

Hear the voices of firefighters and paramedics who try in vain to save those they can’t.

Nicole McGee lived with Gardiner and heard after his death that he planned to ask her to marry him.

McGee remembers a press conference in Toronto held by various police agencies about the numerous collisions involving transport trucks.

It was well attended by media in Toronto and broadcast from coast to coast.

But McGee wondered on Thursday outside the Courthouse in Cobourg, what’s happened since?

It seems the coverage has dried up from the media.

Has anything been done?

Laws changed?

Where is “our” protection for driving the highways.

If people wonder if we are picking on transport drivers, frankly, at this point – yes.

There are many, many more collisions involving vehicles.

But as Justice Speyer said, transport drivers are “professionals.”

The vast majority of the times when a transport is involved in a collision the damage is far worse.

Justice Speyer said the Brampton man was responsible for the deaths of Gardiner and Glazier, because “he did chose to engage in a criminally dangerous course of conduct. And as a direct result of his decision and actions, two men died and the lives of their loves ones are forever damaged.”

So, when will the politicians wake-up and talk to the people who enforce the rules.

Local politicians like MPP David Piccini and MP Philip Lawrence it’s time to make some noise. Ruffle feathers if you have too in government.

Many people, and many families would stand shoulder-to-shoulder beside you. Along with firefighters, paramedics police officers (and at least one person from the media).

Justice Speyer gave a wake-up call for truck drivers when she said, “if anything positive can come of this tragedy it is my hope that the operators of large commercial vehicles may take note and drive more cautiously as though their family members were occupying the vehicles around them. And those lives were dependent on the manner on which they operated their trucks.”

It’s my belief some will take notice of their actions. But it’s also my strong believe that some will continue to carry on with their ways and have the “it won’t happen to me” attitude.

Something needs to happen from government.

For not only the families of Todd Gardiner and Michael Glazier, but all of the families left behind following the needless deaths.

Because it isn’t a question “if” it will happen again, it’s a question of “when.”

My sincerest condolences go to both the Gardiner and Glazier families. Speaking to their family members today was heart wrenching, but important.

I’m very grateful for the time they gave.

God bless