February 7, 2012

Family of woman killed in Toronto bus crash launches $4.25-million lawsuit

TORONTO

The family of a woman killed in a Toronto Transit Commission bus crash has launched a $4.25-million lawsuit.

Jadranka Petrova, 43, died of her injuries Aug. 30, after the bus she was riding in collided with the back end of a truck.

The bus driver, William Ainsworth, of Toronto, was charged with criminal negligence causing death and possession of marijuana.

A statement of claim filed today with the Ontario Superior Court names Ainsworth, the TTC, truck driver Blair Parsons and the truck’s owner Amherst Crane Rentals Ltd.

The claim states the TTC was negligent in allowing the driver to allegedly operate the bus while impaired by marijuana and to take the drug onto the bus.

None of the claims have been proven in court, and the transit commission has not had the opportunity to defend itself.

The family’s lawyer John McLeish says in the statement of claim that the transit commission could have taken steps to prevent the “situation of danger.’’

McLeish alleges in the claim that Ainsworth had been “smoking marijuana and at the time of the crash, his faculties of observation, perception, judgment and self-control were impaired...he was incompetent to operate the TTC bus with normal and reasonable care and attention.”

McLeish also alleges in the claim that Parsons had slowed down abruptly without warning and failed to keep a proper lookout and that the trucking company failed to maintain the truck in proper repair and allowed an “incompetent driver” to operate it.

“The Petrov family has been devastated by the senseless loss of their wife and mother, who was the heart and soul of their family,” McLeish wrote, referring to Petrov’s husband, son and daughter.

News from © Canadian Press Enterprises Inc., 2012

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