Police awaiting investigator’s report in fatal collision

A technical traffic accident investigator's report on the Concession 2 fatal collision last week must be received before Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) can determine if charges are to be laid.

According to Hawkesbury OPP Const. Pierre Dubois, the police detachment received an e-mail from the lead investigator this weekend indicating that interviews have been conducted with most of the necessary people involved in the case.

However, a police release was sent out Monday to media by lead investigator Const. Dominique Sauvé, asking that any witnesses - notably, drivers who would have passed by the scene prior to the accident - please contact the OPP to provide additional details.

"That's the only loose end that we have for now," said Const. Dubois. "We still have [to wait for] the technical traffic collision investigator's report, from those that were on the scene that night. I know it's being done but it's quite an extensive report."

Eighteen-year-old Garett Allen and 17-year-old Naomi Théoret were traveling westbound on Concession Road 2 near Vankleek Hill when the pickup truck they were driving in struck a loaded semi-trailer that was parked, blocking the westbound lane, last Monday, January 10 around 5 p.m.

No charges have been laid against the driver of the semi-trailer, who had detached the tractor from the trailer and had driven to a nearby service station prior to the collision. The road would have been dark and poorly lit at the time, and there were no flares or reflectors indicating the presence of the trailer.

Dubois said it is not yet known if speed was a factor, though he confirmed the victims were not wearing seatbelts at the time.

The normal procedure for stopped vehicles is to warn other drivers of their presence on the road, Dubois said.

"Any vehicle stopped on the road, especially a commercial vehicle, should warn others of its presence on the road whether broken down or just parked. They should put down flares or cones or anything - a lot of truckers will use the reflective triangles - but you have to make sure the vehicle is visible. That's just being careful," he said.

"We don't know why [the trailer] was parked there. But we only lay charges once everything is in, just to make sure."

Hundreds of people, many of them family members and close friends, attended funerals in Vankleek Hill over the weekend for both Allen and Théoret.

Anyone with information for the Hawkesbury OPP is asked to please contact Const. Sauvé at 613-632-2729.