“No way this is happening.”
That is how a witness to a fatal accident described what he was thinking seconds before a fatal head on collision on Hwy 22 near Oasis.
Ian Bezubiak testified Monday morning at the Terry Jackson trial in Rossland.
Jackson is charged with dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing bodily in the crash that killed a 34-year-old woman and injured her four children.
Bezubiak told court he was riding with fellow contractor Brian Allarie just after they finished their Teck Trail Operation shutdown shift at 5 p.m. on Oct 1, 2022.
He said they followed a Ford Pickup Truck heading north during a clear afternoon on the dry roadway toward Genelle when they noticed the truck veering off the road twice, before correcting its path both times.
Bezubiak said both happened within moments and just moments after that, they noticed the truck kept travelling straight instead of negotiating a curve before colliding with a southbound SUV near a rest stop.
He told court the impact was on the driver’s sides of both vehicles, sending the truck back across the highway and down the bank toward the railway tracks where it stopped upright.
The crumpled SUV ended up several feet back on the shoulder of the road.
Bezubiak and Allaire both testified their vehicle and the pickup were travelling at or just above the 90 km/hour speed limit and they tried to help during the 10-to-15 minutes it took for fire fighters and paramedics to arrive.
Allarie said he has travelled the route from his home in Nelson to Teck for many years and told court there are several places to stop safely along the road
Jackson testified he had a fight with his girlfriend the night before and awoke to a note telling him she was leaving with his jeep and his 17-year-old dog.
The 57-year-old who grew up in Castlegar told court he looked for his vehicle at hotels and motels in Trail and Castlegar and also visited two friends in Trail before heading back on the highway toward Genelle.
Jackson admitted his truck veered when he leaned to reach across the dash to answer a call from one of his friends on the dash mounted cell phone, but was able to straighten out the vehicle and then answered a call from the other friend, but felt he had the vehicle under control.
Jackson told court he was looking for a place to turn around, thinking his girlfriend may have left his dog along the highway at a pull-out or rest stop.
He testified to looking in his rear-view mirror at the rest stop, didn’t realize the curve was there and then looked back up the highway seconds before impact.
Jackson admitted he lied to police about seeing an animal cross the road just before the collision because he was “freaked out” about what happened and described feelings of sadness and guilt.
“I feel so bad about this man,” he testified.
“All I remember is a flash of light and ended up in the ditch,” he added.
Jackson wasn’t physically injured in the crash.
The woman succumbed to her injuries. Two of her children suffered serious but not life threatening injuries.
Jackson returns to the witness stand Tuesday morning.
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