No charges in snowplow crash that killed 8-year-old boy in Castelgar, B.C., last year

An eight-year-old boy was killed in a crash between a car and a snow plow on B.C.'s Highway 3. (Courtesy: BC Highway Patrol)

No charges will be laid in connection to a crash involving a snowplow that killed an eight-year-old boy in Castlegar, B.C., last December.

The B.C. Prosecution Service took the unusual step of releasing a “clear statement” on its rationale for not approving a charge of careless driving against the boy’s stepfather, who was behind the wheel when his Kia SUV collided with the snowplow’s blade.

Such statements are issued when the head of the BCPS concludes it’s in the public interest to share the agency’s reasons for not approving charges.

The BCPS released its report Monday, 366 days after the Dec. 7, 2024, crash.

The collision occurred west of the city around 8 a.m., on a stretch of Highway 3 that has two travel lanes, one in each direction, according to the prosecution service.

A snowplow driver had stopped in the eastbound lane after encountering a Honda Civic parked on the eastbound shoulder, partially in the travel lane. The Civic driver had stopped to assist the driver of a GMC Sierra pickup truck that had slid into a ditch on the west side of the road.

“The roadway surface in this area was extremely icy, including the presence of black ice, snow and slush,” the BCPS statement reads.

“Two or three” other vehicles had stopped on the westbound shoulder to help the occupants of the truck in the ditch, leading witnesses to describe the area as “congested,” according to the document.

The snowplow driver stopped in the travel lane, with his vehicle’s blade elevated. The prosecution service found there was considerable variation in accounts of how far over the centre line the plow or its blade may have extended.

At one extreme, the snowplow driver said he thought his vehicle was close to the centre line, but not over it. At the other, the Kia driver alleged the snowplow was “60 per cent across the centre line.”

The true positions of the vehicles at the time of the crash were unclear because most of the vehicles parked at the scene had been moved by the time police arrived, according to the BCPS.

The crash occurred when the Kia was westbound on the highway. The driver told investigators he saw “a wall” of cars to his right and attempted to navigate between the parked vehicles on his right and the snowplow encroaching on his left.

He also said he planned to stop and offer help and “made every effort to slow his speed but was unable to gain traction,” according to the statement.

“As he passed between the snowplow and shoulder, the rear driver’s side of the Kia collided with the raised blade of the snowplow,” the statement reads. “The blade entered the Kia behind the driver’s side seat and peeled back the rear driver’s side of the vehicle. After colliding with the blade, the Kia continued out of control and struck a pedestrian (who was the driver of the Honda Civic parked on the eastbound shoulder).”

The collision killed the Kia driver’s stepson, who was sitting in the driver’s side backseat behind him. His other stepson, age five, was in the rear passenger’s side seat and was also injured in the crash.

The pedestrian suffered “very serious injuries” in the crash, according to the BCPS.

Castlegar RCMP and B.C. Highway Patrol responded to the scene, and investigators ultimately recommended a charge of careless driving against the Kia driver.

Careless driving is a Motor Vehicle Act offence that carries a minimum fine of $100 and a maximum sentence of $2,000 in fines, six months in jail, or both.

To charge someone with an offence, the BCPS must apply a two-part test. First, prosecutors must determine that there is a “substantial likelihood” of conviction. If there is, they must then determine that prosecuting the case is in the public interest.

In this case, the BCPS determined that the first part of the test was not met.

“The accident occurred as the result of a confluence of factors, including the sudden change in road conditions, and unusual and unexpected hazards on both shoulders and a snowplow stopped on the highway protruding to some degree into oncoming traffic,” the statement concludes.

“There is insufficient evidence to support a finding that the Kia driver was driving in a manner that was negligent, too fast for the conditions, or that he demonstrated a lack of consideration for other persons using the highway. In all of the circumstances, there is no substantial likelihood of a conviction.”