Driver wasn't braking when bus struck Westboro station, trial hears
Onboard computer data shows brakes not applied immediately before or during impact
Data from the onboard computer of the double-decker involved in the 2019 Westboro bus crash show the vehicle's brakes weren't applied immediately before or during the fatal collision, court heard during the trial of driver Assiatou Diallo.
Three passengers died and dozens were injured in the crash on Jan. 11, 2019. Diallo has pleaded not guilty to all 38 dangerous driving charges against her, including three counts of dangerous driving causing death.
On Monday, OPP Const. Steve Anderson explained the second-by-second data captured during the "sudden deceleration event" included the double-decker's speed and brake application.
Anderson, who assisted Ottawa police in downloading the data, said it showed the vehicle's brakes were applied seven and six seconds before the initial collision with the Transitway wall, then again after the impact with the bus shelter. It was that collision that severely damaged the bus's upper deck, killing and injuring passengers.
The computer recorded the bus travelling over 70 km/h before reducing its speed to 66 km/h prior to leaving the road. The speed limit on that section of the Transitway is 50 km/h.
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Assistant Crown attorney Dallas Mack asked whether tire tracks found on the shoulder of the Transitway suggested the bus had braked.
"I can't tell you," Anderson said, noting that the markings could be unreliable. Anderson's cross-examination is expected Tuesday.
Technician cross-examined
Earlier Monday afternoon, the defence concluded its cross-examination of Martin Antoine, a senior OC Transpo technician who also helped retrieve data from the double-decker's braking system.
Defence lawyer Fady Mansour raised questions about the possibility of "intermittent issues" that could trigger a dashboard alert but be hard for technicians to diagnose.
He submitted some maintenance reports from before the crash for the double-decker involved where OC Transpo technicians said they could not replicate the issue that prompted the complaint.
Antoine said technicians can duplicate most conditions to help diagnose the problem and that some issues that are hard to duplicate because of bus operator error.
Mansour also asked Antoine about a series of alerts in the braking system that did not have a timestamp.
Antoine said those fault codes were a result of the way he had asked inspectors to shut down the bus prior to it being towed from the scene of the crash.
"If someone shut the power off without going through the normal shut down sequence, they would get all these codes. It's the same thing if a wire is broken or the power is missing, you're going to get the same code," Antoine said.
He said if the error code was triggered, there would have been audio and visual alert for the driver on the dashboard, and a digital alert would go to the OC Transpo control centre.
