Taxi driver’s death in Vancouver was 100 per cent avoidable: MADD Canada
Posted December 30, 2019 7:12 am.
Last Updated December 30, 2019 7:24 am.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The death of a 28-year-old taxi driver in Vancouver is horrifying, disgusting and was absolutely, 100 per cent preventable, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
Sanehpal Singh Randhawa had two passengers in his Yellow Cab when he was t-boned by someone driving a car2go who ran a red light in East Vancouver early Sunday morning. Vancouver police believe speed and alcohol were factors in the crash, which also left the smart-car driver with serious injuries and the two passengers with non-life threatening injuries.
“It should never happen. Deaths are way down over the decades, but every time you hear of one of these, you know that it shouldn’t have happened,” MADD Canada CEO Andy Murrie said. “We’ve had over 30 years of messaging to say don’t do this, and yet when you read these stories, hear the police accounts, it really leaves you shaking your head going ‘did this really have to happen? Can’t people get the message to don’t do this?'”
Murrie says Randhawa’s death is especially troubling because, as a cab driver, he was helping prevent impaired driving.
A greater police presence on the road has helped deter impaired drivers, according to Murrie, and he hopes the expected arrival of ride-hailing will give people more options to get home safely. As technology advances, he says a more long-term solution may be to outright prevent a car-share vehicles from starting if the driver is impaired.
With files from Hana Mae Nassar
