Charges against driver in deadly Markham collision should be a 'warning' to others, says uncle

A grieving uncle wants recently-laid charges against a dump truck driver to serve as a "warning" to others after a collision in Markham earlier this month left two of his relatives dead and one in the hospital in critical condition.

While the news of charges against the driver was a welcome start, Suven Poopalasingam says it won't bring back his niece and nephew, or make his sister-in-law well again.

"We want to make sure our roads are safe for everybody," said Poopalasingam. "We don't want to lose any other life."

York police have laid multiple charges Thursday against a 46-year-old dump truck driver from Vaughan following the death of two young adults in a Markham crash earlier this month.

While the driver of the dump truck remained at the scene with no injuries, the male driver and a female passenger were pronounced dead at the scene, police say.

They were later identified by family members to CBC Toronto as Pateeran Puvanendran, 21, and Neluxsana Puvanendran, 23. A funeral was held for them last Sunday, Poopalasingam says.

The second passenger, their 52-year-old mother Srirathy Shanmuganathan, was transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries where she remains in critical condition.

Poopalasingam says Shanmuganathan is still in a medically-induced coma. While she shows promising signs of improvement, there's a possibility she might not ever recover.

"It's kind of destroyed the whole family at this moment," said Poopalasingam.

The dump truck driver was charged with dangerous driving causing bodily harm and two counts of dangerous driving causing death. He's due to appear in court on Nov. 29.