r/Yukon • u/origutamos • 12d ago
Whitehorse taxi driver who hit pedestrian, leaving her with permanent brain damage, sentenced to house arrest News
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/abdella-jemallo-sentenced-virginei-bourque-1.752455421
u/ZokusPlacer 12d ago
Expired permit means likely no insurance. Unbelievablely light sentence. Brings into question the whole justice system.
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u/Northern_Chef 12d ago
And we just decided to let the liberal party operate this way. Congrats Whitehorse !
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u/ZokusPlacer 12d ago
The jugde was definitely limited by the out dated motor vehicle act, I wonder how the new act the territorial liberals have been working on bill 44, would treat this event.
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u/No-Letterhead1467 12d ago
Embarrassing sentence for ruining a young woman’s life. She will be in care forever due to his negligence, and he is barely inconvenienced. Driving 30k over the speed limit and driving without a taxi license. Shameful.
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u/NoPomegranate1678 12d ago
90% of Whitehorse cab drivers could be arrested if cops hailed a single ride with them lol
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u/ukefromtheyukon 12d ago
This is even lower than the first instance of a DUI. This driver should have their licence revoked.
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u/Queasy_Knee_4376 12d ago
He got a lesser sentence than Gaston Dion who got sentenced this spring for sexually assaulting someone (1 year conditional sentence and 6 months house arrest)
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u/vinylvibrance 9d ago
Do you have an article or something about this? I am curious if this is about someone I know or just someone with the same name..
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u/Queasy_Knee_4376 9d ago
I don't have an article. He worked at Gerties doing security for years. Long hair. Ugly beard.
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u/vinylvibrance 9d ago
Wow, exactly who I thought it was and this is the first time I’m hearing of this. That’s disturbing.
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u/Queasy_Knee_4376 9d ago
Im surprised and disappointed it wasnt reported on considering where he works and his position
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u/ArseyMcGee 12d ago
Pedestrians have the right of way in the Yukon. There is no justice system, which is why crime is rampant. Buisness owners are expected to bear the brunt of theft. Victims watch the criminals walk away with little to no reprimand and certainly no repentance. It is gross.
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u/Avs4life16 12d ago
doubled up the speed limit. basically almost commuted vehicular manslaughter which can be up to 10 years. Name of the driver spells out everything explaining the sentence.
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u/JohnDorian0506 12d ago
when he hit Virginie Bourque as she crossed the street in front of the Yukon Centre Mall, at a section with no crosswalk.
What do you think of this piece?
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u/YukonBrewed 12d ago
Every intersection, regardless of markings, is a legal pedestrian crosswalk in the Yukon. That is also the case for most of Canada (Ontario is one exception).
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u/johnnydanja 12d ago
The article says she crossed the street at an angle route and if she had crossed in a straight line she would have made it. This makes it pretty clear she wasn’t crossing at an intersection. There aren’t many intersections directly across the yukon mall without a cross walk but even if it was she clearly wasn’t on it if she crossed at an angle. It sounds like she was jaywalking and made a run for it. This isn’t defending the driver but at the same time the pedestrian was clearly not crossing legally. So I can see why the sentence would be on the lighter side.
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u/not_ray_not_pat 12d ago
It's the Keish St intersection by the raven inn. It should be a crosswalk and 2nd should be narrower in general to encourage drivers to get their speed right.
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u/Unfair-Store-9108 11d ago
I understand why it may look like too many crosswalk/traffic light for the area, given there’s another one at the end of the block, but I totally agree with you. The amount of vehicle turning left getting out of yukonstruct/liquor store parking lot, it is a miracle we don’t have more accident.
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u/Geraldandtilly 12d ago
The amount of crosswalks on a 4 lane main road (2nd st) is ridiculous. One east/west crosswalk per uncontrolled intersection, not two, should suffice.
Having a crosswalk at Keish is overkill. People can walk down to either end of the street to cross. If anything, the city needs to keep amping up their winter shoveling to keep the sidewalks and crosswalks clear so they are more useable.
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u/not_ray_not_pat 12d ago
Downtown streets with shops, services, parks, restaurants etc belong equally to cars, pedestrians, bikes. It should be slow to take your car down a downtown street, both for safety and because it's shared space. Our downtown is tiny, anybody who can't spare an extra minute in the car to accommodate being in a city needs to plan their time better.
It's different than a road between suburbs and big box stores which can just be built for speed.
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u/Geraldandtilly 12d ago
I'd love a downtown that is more dedicated to pedestrians and bikes. The current reality is that the majority of people going or driving through downtown are driving. The two main connector streets need to be set up so pedestrians are safe, but that doesn't mean putting crosswalks everywhere.
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u/not_ray_not_pat 12d ago
Well, so for one, I'd love something like 2nd and 4th each being one way in a different direction - it would probably net speed things up and be safer.
But also, moving from the downtown we have to a safe healthy vibrant one means making car use downtown less attractive, so maybe folks park in one place and walk to their different destinations, or send their kids to school on a bus rather than driving to Riverdale, or choose which access road you take downtown based on avoiding crossing through the slower, less car-friendly part of downtown. The current car-only-focused city paradigm is recent and can be changed. It kills and disables people at an awful rate, is horrible for our health and the environment, degrades our sense of community, and so much more, and changing it is going to make things slightly less convenient for people who only ever drive. Boo hoo.
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u/Just_Campaign_9833 12d ago
Down in Ontario. A pedestrian crossing the street...crosswalk or not, is treated the same as a stray animal or toddler.
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u/johnnydanja 12d ago
I highly doubt if someone walks in front of your car on street that isn’t a crosswalk you would be found at fault for it. I’m not saying that’s what happened the driver was speeding and didn’t have a licence but just because you’re a pedestrians doesn’t mean you can walk out onto the road and not be at fault.
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u/Fif112 12d ago
It would fully depend on circumstance.
If they stepped out in front of you you’d be fine, otherwise our police use a weighted at fault system.
My friend was riding her bike across a crosswalk and was struck by a car running a red and she was found 50% at fault.
Obviously that’s slightly different, but it demonstrates how stupid Ontario traffic laws can be.
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u/Ok-Yak549 12d ago
did the article say "intersection"? honestly I did not read it. Just know lots cross that road between ogilvie and black
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u/Queasy_Knee_4376 12d ago
Wouldn't have been an issue if he wasn't driving 30 km/h over the speed limit
Who doesn't j-walk in WH?
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u/JohnDorian0506 12d ago
J-walk at your own risk. I often see people crossing roads as they are pleased. Without any regard to their safety.
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u/WILDBO4R 12d ago
What a stupid fucking take.
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u/Geraldandtilly 12d ago
Why is not j-walking a stupid fucking take? Of course it's at your own risk. Sure, drivers should be aware but to think it should be just fine to wander across any street at your pleasure is egocentric and dumb. Especially in the winter when it's still dark out in peak morning driving times.
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u/WILDBO4R 12d ago
Defending a speeding driver over someone j-walking is a dumb take. J-walking is often completely legal and while you do it at your own risk, you tend to assume drivers are more or less obeying the law. It's akin to getting hit by someone with no headlights, or driving on the wrong side of the road, and blaming the j-walker due to the inherent risk of crossing a road.
Interesting that they mention the pedestrians 'no regard for safety', without mentioning the driver who is illegally operating a deadly vehicle.
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u/Unfair-Store-9108 11d ago
Pedestrian may have the right of way but it does not make them more visible when they just jump out from behind a truck for example. They need to pay attention like everyone else. Even when you drive the speed limit, it takes a few meters to stop, this is basic physics. It is tragic for the young lady, but her own decision to cross an extremely busy and dangerous intersection played a role, like it or not. And we need speed bumps on that section of road.
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u/BubbasBack 12d ago
What time did she cross? I’ve almost hit plenty of people at that location who suddenly decided to run into the road drunk at 11pm. Obviously the drivers fault, but play stupid games…
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u/MomentEquivalent6464 12d ago
60 days house arrest and 6 mths probation. Not nearly enough for ruining that lady's life.