A traffic collision changed their lives. But they believe justice still hasn't been served
CBC
Shona Siddiqui remembers frantically trying to call her younger brother on a January afternoon three years ago. Her sister had told her about an accident in North York. Soon after she learned not only was her brother the victim, but that he was killed.
"I couldn't believe it," Siddiqui recalled, her voice faltering.
"So I started dialing his number. I'm saying, 'No, you're not gone.' And of course, there was no pick up and it just started becoming really real."
Asim Siddiqui was hit by a dump truck turning right on Lawrence Avenue West. Siddiqui says her brother waited for the pedestrian signal and was crossing at a marked crosswalk. The driver fled the scene but later pleaded guilty to a failing-to-yield charge that comes with a fine.
As the number of traffic fatalities rise in cities like Toronto, Siddiqui and other advocates are pushing for tougher penalties for drivers who seriously injure or kill someone. A private members bill has been proposed but there are no guarantees it will become law.
The driver who struck Asim Siddiqui was also charged with careless driving, but that was dropped after he pleaded guilty to failing to yield to a pedestrian.
According to the Highway Traffic Act, the penalty for the failure to yield is a fine of $300, unless it's in a designated community, in which case the fine is $600.
"What is to prevent people from doing that with those sorts of consequences?" said Ray Lacina, Shona Siddiqui's husband.
Advocates say any charges that are laid are almost always under the Highway Traffic Act, not the Criminal Code, and penalties are minor.
"And if by chance they are found guilty or convicted, it's usually a small fine that's handed out," said lawyer Patrick Brown, a road safety advocate and a partner at McLeish Orlando Lawyers LLP in Toronto.
Brown says that's hard for victims families to accept.
"When they see the justice system respond in that way, it's just further victimization of these people," said Brown. "It really has to change."
There is also frustration among those who survive a collision.
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This First Person article is the experience of Kristine Thoreson, who lives in Calgary. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.