Distracted driver killed Alberta teen: report

The driver of a vehicle that slammed into a truck and killed a teen landscaper in Edmonton last summer was distracted and did not see the teen or the truck, according to a fatality report released Tuesday by Alberta Workplace Health and Safety.

Sefatullah Khanzadeh, 18, was picking up orange traffic pylons near a median at 97th Street and 144th Avenue on the morning of July 24, 2009, when a Honda Civic slammed into the back of a landscaping truck, pinning him between the two vehicles. Khanzadeh died at the scene.

According to the report, a witness said the driver was seen texting on her cellphone as she got out of her car.

"The driver of the passenger vehicle [the Civic] did not even know that she had crushed a landscape worker," the report says. "There were no visible skid marks from the passenger vehicle. This indicated that the passenger vehicle's driver did not attempt to stop before the crash."

The woman was later charged wtih careless driving in connection with the case. The case has yet to be resolved in court.

The report says Edmonton police will be consulted on whether the incident could be used in a video to educate drivers about "the dangers and consequences of using cellphones and texting while driving."

Legislation planned

In September, Strathcona County, just east of Edmonton, became the first municipality in Alberta to outlaw the use of hand-held cellphones while driving. 

The province is working on legislation aimed at distracted drivers — not just cellphone use — but Transportation Minister Luke Ouellette said it's not ready yet.

"It's very complex, and we want to make sure we get it right, and at this point my officials are not necessarily saying that we have it right."

Khanzadeh had come to Canada from Afghanistan with his mother several years before his death. He was a seasonal employee with LandTec Landscape Contractors Ltd., which was doing work for the City of Edmonton.