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Witness tells court he warned of toppled stop sign weeks before deadly 2016 Sask. highway crash

A witness at a Saskatchewan dangerous driving trial says he raised concerns about a stop sign that was knocked down and went unrepaired in the two weeks before Robert Major's deadly collision with a fully loaded semi-trailer.

In the early morning darkness of Feb. 22, 2016, Major's pickup truck T-boned a semi-tractor that weighed a total of about 35,000 kilograms on Highway 16 near Langham, Sask. The pickup was torn in half, its front half becoming embedded in the side of the semi-trailer, the back half resting in the highway's center median.

Court exhibit
Court exhibit

The Crown alleges Major came off Grid Road 3083 at high speed while on the phone, and that he crossed two lanes and the median before crashing into the semi.

Two of Major's sons, ages four and nine, died in the crash, along with an 26-year-old adult passenger. Three other passengers were injured.

Major is now on trial at Court of Queen's Bench in Saskatoon, charged with three counts of dangerous driving causing death, three counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm, three counts of criminal negligence causing death and three counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

Court exhibit
Court exhibit

On Wednesday, Langham-area resident Daved Meakin testified that the stop sign at the southern end of the intersection, where Major crossed onto Highway 16 from Road 3083, had been knocked down by contractors working for SaskPower at least two weeks before the crash.

Meakin said he notified the Rural Municipality of Corman Park twice about the downed sign. He also said under cross-examination by one of Major's defence attorneys, Mark Brayford, that the RM told him the damaged sign was the responsibility of the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure.

"This is unfortunate that either the RM or the department of highways hadn't taken the initiative to put it back up," Meakin recalled thinking shortly after the crash.

'It's not a black hole'

Const. Gary Pepin, the first RCMP member to respond to the crash scene, testified that he noticed the downed stop sign on the day of the crash.

"It was in snow. It wasn't freshly down," said Pepin.

A video taken by Pepin in January 2017 and shown in court showed a stop sign back at the intersection at that point. The Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure put the sign back up shortly after the crash, Pepin said.

Google Maps
Google Maps

The reinstalled stop sign was clearly visible and reflective for at least half a minute as Pepin drove toward the highway in his video.

Grid Road 3083 is lined with trees on both sides, but the trees are set back from Highway 16. The last section of the grid road leading to the highway is downhill, said Meakin.

Meakin disagreed with Brayford's suggestion that there was little besides the stop sign to signal the approaching highway in dark conditions.

"No, it's not a black hole," Meakin said to Brayford. "There were a number of reflectors there."

Meakin's assertion was backed up by Pepin and his video.

"There's a point where you're seeing three different reflectors other than the stop sign," Pepin said of view of the intersection offered by the video.

"Paying attention while driving is important too," the constable added.

Major's two sons, four-year-old Brendan Major and nine-year-old Theodore Grindon-Cardinal, were killed in the crash, along with 26-year-old Kimberly Oliverio.

Two other children and another adult, Scott Eckel, survived. Eckel is slated to testify during the trial.

The jury trial, which began Monday, is expected to last two weeks.