Within days of a Cambridge teen pleading guilty in the fatal crash that claimed the life of two Guelph children, the family of the victims filed a $3.35 million lawsuit against the offending driver, his mother, the municipality where it happened and more.
Greg and Susan Lodge, along with surviving daughter Alyssa, allege the 2021 crash that killed Evan and Amanda happened because the other driver was using his cell phone at the time and was also distracted by his vehicle’s entertainment system.
They further accuse the Region of Waterloo and the Township of North Dumfries, where the incident happened, of negligence for not ensuring the intersection was “reasonably safe for vehicular traffic.”
None of the allegations have been tested or proven in court.
Evan and Amanda, who were ages 12 and 10 respectively, died as a result of a Jan. 31, 2021 collision at a rural intersection. Evan was pronounced dead at the scene and Amanda was taken off life support several days later at McMaster Hospital in Hamilton.
In a Kitchener court this past January, a Cambridge teenager pleaded guilty to two counts of careless driving causing death and once count of careless driving causing injury.
The court issued him a $6,000 fine, a three-year-driving suspension and ordered him to complete 200 hours of community service.
Court heard the offending driver blew through a stop sign in the rural area while travelling 64 km/h and crashed into the Lodge family vehicle.
The impact forced the Lodge vehicle into oncoming traffic, where it was hit again by a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction.
Susan and Alyssa, who were also in the family vehicle, suffered permanent injuries in the crash, the lawsuit notes.
The offending driver’s name is protected by a publication ban due to his age at the time of the crash. He was 17.
In their statement of defence, the guilty driver and his mother deny they are responsible for the crash and say Susan, who was driving the Lodge vehicle, is “solely” responsible.
They claim she was speeding, failed to keep “proper lookout” for other vehicles, didn’t take evasive action and wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.
“She created and perpetuated a situation of danger,” the defence claims.
They further argue that if the Lodges win the lawsuit, it should be up to the other defendants to pay whatever financial penalty is applied.
Spokespeople for the Township of North Dumfries and the Region of Waterloo declined to comment on the lawsuit.
However, in their joint statement of defence, both deny responsibility.
“These defendants deny that there was any negligence, want of care and or breach of duty on their part or on the part of their agents, servants or employees which caused or contributed to the accident,” the court filing states.
“These defendants state that they did not know, and could not reasonably have known, about any conditions of unreasonable disrepair present at, on or near any municipal highway at issue in this proceeding.”
The municipalities also argue that if the Lodges win the lawsuit, it should be the other defendants who have to pay.
