ATV death ruled not a crime
Driver found not criminally responsible for crash that killed friend
Casey Lessard
Northern News Services
Published Monday, November 3, 2014
KANGIQTUGAAPIK/CLYDE RIVER
It started as a fun ride, and ended with a teenager dead and a driver facing criminal charges.
But Joe Aipeellee, 18 at the time, was found not guilty earlier this year of dangerous driving after the ATV he borrowed from his uncle crashed, leading to the death of his passenger and friend, Kevin Illauq, 16.
The incident happened on July 29, 2013. Aipeelee paid his uncle, Moses Iqalukjuak, $60 to borrow the ATV, and as they passed his house later, Illauq shouted, "Go! Go! Go!" according to Iqalukjuak's testimony.
Illauq was riding on the utility rack, and the two drove around Clyde River for a few hours, shouting and laughing while driving quickly at times.
Driving along a stretch of gravel road with a gradual curve, the ATV left the road and hit some boulders piled around a telephone pole. Aipeelee was thrown clear, but Illauq held tight and hit the pole. He died shortly afterward.
The Crown accused Aipeelee of dangerous driving. There was no evidence of intoxication or erratic driving.
He was simply driving too fast, the Crown charged. The defence said it was a civil matter, not a criminal one.
Aipeelee was driving "a little too fast for me," Iqalukjuak testified, and said he waved at Aipeelee to get him to slow down. He said the vehicle did slow down. Fifteen minutes later, he heard the accident in the distance.
April Natanine didn't see the crash, but noticed the boys driving very fast minutes before the crash happened.
Daisy Pallister heard the vehicle pass her house and thought the engine sounded funny. She saw the ATV leave the road, but closed her eyes before the crash.
She testified that the vehicle was going fast, but not unusually so for the stretch of road, where people regularly drive quickly.
Ivan Sanguya, too, noticed something odd about the sound of the engine as the vehicle approached him from behind. He estimated the ATV's speed at between 40 and 60 km/h, and watched it "slowly" leave the road and crash. He disputed the Crown's argument that the speed was excessive.
The road was dry, but covered in loose gravel, investigating RCMP Const. Sedat Kulokofski testified, noting that even the gentle curve in the road would have been enough to cause the crash if the ATV was speeding.
He said the vehicle was found in top gear, suggesting a high speed of travel. The speed limit on the road is 50 km/h.
In his decision, dated Sept. 15 and issued Oct. 29, Justice Andrew Mahar said he was not convinced that the boys were going much faster than the speed limit, and within the realm of normal for the stretch of road.
The fact that the ATV was found in top gear may explain the odd sounds coming from the engine, Mahar wrote in his decision.
"It is a matter of common knowledge that engines sound laboured when a manual transmission vehicle is travelling too slowly for the chosen gear," he said, noting this point only as an explanation for the fact that the vehicle was found in top gear.
The crash did not stem from dangerous driving, he said, as that would require a "marked departure" from the norm. While Aipeelee could have driven more carefully, he didn't meet the dangerous driving standard, and Mahar found him not guilty.
Illauq's death was felt by the victim's family, but also by his friend, the accused, Joe Aipeelee, Mahar stated.
"He cried virtually throughout the trial," he stated.
"His regret was obvious and moving. We have all been young at one time and we have all made mistakes, sometimes dreadful mistakes. I hope that, in time, the people who have been injured by this terrible event can find some peace and the ability to forgive."
