CALGARY — Peter Peebles and his family experienced the unimaginable tragedy during Christmas four years ago in BC — and the provincial government has still failed to give them justice.A similar story could soon affect Albertans if Care-First, the regulated automobile insurance system, is introduced in 2027.Back on December 21, 2021, Peter Peebles was driving his wife, Erika, and their children to Prince George in BC to spend the holidays with their extended family.According to a witness, an eastbound Dart Transport Volvo semi-truck being driven by Manpreet Dhaliwal passed another eastbound vehicle over a double solid yellow line on the two-lane highway, as reported by Richmond News..The semi accelerated into the westbound lane, and as a result, Dhaliwal lost control, causing the semi to swing and block both lanes.Peebles recalled he then saw a semi-truck barreling toward his Dodge Ram truck in the westbound lane at the summit of the hill.He remembers his wife yelling at him to "hit the ditch" before they collided with the truck. Nate, their son, who was turning five the next month, was sitting behind the driver's seat..He suffered a serious head injury and was airlifted to Edmonton but succumbed to his injury the next day.Peebles was hospitalized for six weeks with leg fractures, crushed facial, and foot injuries, requiring three surgeries. However, this was only the start of their troubles, as the system would not bring them justice. The Peebles reached out to politicians and bureaucrats in Alberta and BC to push for stronger licensing for commercial truck drivers and companies, as well as better law enforcement and highway maintenance.."It's so far out of whack in British Columbia," Peebles stated about the system in BC.The most BC ever did about having stricter rules for commercial truck drivers was to crack down on truckers who collide with overpasses, said Peebles."So, damaging infrastructure, compared to citizens," Erika said.The BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit told the Citizen that "The review conducted following this incident did not identify any changes required as a result of this incident.".Peebles discovered through the Alberta Public Carrier Profile, Dart Transport vehicles were in three other injury-causing crashes earlier in 2021.As for Alberta, Peebles says it took a year and a half for the minister of transport to respond.In September, the minister, Devin Dreeshen, said Alberta has "strengthened its commercial driver training system to improve competency and oversight."Dreeshen says in April, Alberta replaced its mandatory entry-level training curriculum with the new, four-tier Class 1 Learning Pathway. .Further, he stated in 2021, Alberta pulled eight commercial carriers from continued operations and issued 184 penalties after 470 audits and 149 investigations.What shocked Peebles — was the lack of accountability in how the BC auto insurance and justice system worked.In 2021, BC's NDP government switched to no-fault auto insurance.The introduction of "enhanced care" came about because David Eby, BC's now premier, was at the time the attorney general, who wished to ease the burden on courts and improve ICBC's bottom line..This echoes the Care-First system that will be introduced in Alberta — under both regulated systems, the only way to sue an at-fault driver for causing injury or fatality for compensation is if the driver is convicted of criminal violation.But even in Peeble's case, Dhaliwal was not convicted of any charge under the Criminal Code.Crown prosecutors in BC instead charged Dhaliwal under the Motor Vehicle Act for driving without due care and attention, without the RCMP conducting a forensic investigation. Dhaliwal was found guilty — Provincial Court Judge Michael Brecknell, sentenced him to 60 days in jail, a $1,480 fine and $30,000 in restitution..However, that was last year — this year, according to the Prince George registry, Dhaliwal's arrest warrant is still outstanding, and no fine has been paid.The Peebles family has still yet to receive a penny in restitution, and the restitution Dhaliwal was ordered to pay only covers a fraction of the $218,551 the Peebles requested the court for, to cover medical costs, loss of work and opportunity, and costs of Nate’s funeral.Not to mention, during the sentencing hearing, Dhaliwal did not appear in person — he appeared by webcam from India, where the court was told he is taking care of his mother, who is ill with sepsis."Nothing in this decision will return a young child to his family," Brecknell said in his sentencing reasons. ."Nothing in this decision will properly address the enduring grief the family has and will continue to experience.""Nothing in this decision will alleviate the guilt felt by the person whose actions bring him before the court for sentencing. The purpose of this decision is to impose a just and appropriate sentence."The status of Dhaliwal’s licence was left to the superintendent of motor vehicles to decide on.The Peebles were also alarmed by the Care-First system being adopted in Alberta..This system could provide a way for incidents, that echoes the Peebles' inability to get justice or accountability, to be enabled.Without the ability to sue — it seems accountability is hard to get.However, there is a glimmer of hope for BC's auto insurance system — and for the Peebles as well.The NDP's amendments to the Insurance (Vehicle) Act enabled no-fault to require a special, all-party committee of MLAs to be formed in May, to conduct a comprehensive and independent review of the system, reporting back after a year to make recommendations for the legislature. .As for Alberta, if Care-First is introduced next year — there is nothing in the act that calls for an independent review, Tyler van Vliet, from Crash Lawyers, told the Western Standard.
