Families of two of the people who died in the 2019 bus crash testified before a coroner’s inquest Wednesday.
A month-long inquest into the Westboro bus crash launched Wednesday, more than six years after the fatal collision, with emotional statements from two of its victims’ families.
The inquest jury will investigate the circumstances that led to the deaths of three passengers — Bruce Thomlinson, 56, Judy Booth, 57, and Anja Van Beek, 65 — and make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.
Elaine Thomlinson told the inquest she has suffered post-traumatic stress, anxiety, hopelessness and severe depression in the aftermath of her husband’s death.
Bruce Thomlinson sat in the right, front row on the upper deck of Bus 8155 when it slammed into the awning of Westboro Station’s passenger shelter awning on the afternoon of Jan. 11, 2019. The inquest heard he died from multiple blunt force injuries.
“The after effects are shock, fear, devastation and pain that leave a never-ending scar in your soul,” said Elaine Thomlinson.
A father of two boys, a Scout leader and civil servant, Bruce Thomlison loved to go camping, boating and fishing with his sons. She described him as energetic, fun-loving and goofy. “Bruce was a big kid himself,” she said. “His favorite things were his family, the outdoors, strawberry-rhubarb pie, beer and music, including his favorite band, Rush.”
Karen Benvie told the inquest her mother, Judy Booth, was a wise, caring, kind-hearted woman whose “effervescent personality filled the room.” She cherished her daughters to such an extent, Benvie said, that she kept even a childhood drawing of a dehumidifier.
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“She had a way of making you feel important, and she carried herself with intelligence and grace,” Benvie said.
She said the sudden loss of her mother has left a void that cannot be filled. “She was taken from us far too soon, and we are left with unanswered questions and an unbearable grief,” Benvie said. “Her absence is felt every day in the silence where her laughter used to be.”
Presiding officer Dr. Louise McNaughton-Filion extended her sincere sympathies to the families Wednesday and vowed that the inquest will be worth their while.
“This is going to be hard, but it’s going to make a difference in the future,” she told them.
McNaughton-Filion said the inquest will examine bus driver training, the handling of new drivers, how a driver is managed after a collision, the assignment of bus routes and bus types, along with “the role of human factors” in the operation of buses.
It will also examine the design of the Transitway and the measures put in place to safeguard against collisions.
The safety oversight of the city’s double-decker bus fleet will also be examined.
The jury is prohibited from assigning blame or responsibility. Its mandate is to provide recommendations that prevent future deaths in similar circumstances, but those recommendations are not binding.
Rookie OC Transpo bus driver Aissatou Diallo was charged with three counts of dangerous driving causing death and 35 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm in connection with the Westboro crash.
She was acquitted on all charges as the judge ruled Diallo’s actions were not a “marked departure” from the standard of care a reasonably prudent driver would have exercised in the same situation. He found the collision was not due to Diallo’s inattention or unresponsiveness, but to a tragic combination of circumstances: a blinding sunset, some confusing road markings, snow on the shoulder of the road.
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