NANAIMO — A local woman has avoided a prison sentence after speeding through a highway construction zone at night, killing one worker and injuring another.
Christanne Marie Boufford, 53, was sentenced on Friday, Jan. 9 to a two year conditional sentence order, and a five year driving prohibition, after being convicted by a BC Supreme Court justice last August on charges of dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
While explaining his judgment on Friday, BC Supreme Court Justice Douglas Thompson said Boufford failed to identify clear and obvious hazards on the road.
“Driving at night at a usual highway speed in a construction zone and failing to pay attention to the direction of the first flagger…and instead continuing to drive at speed…rather than driving at a very moderate speed with the close attention so clearly called for by the circumstances was a marked departure from the standard of care expected by a reasonable driver in these circumstances.”
The speeding southbound Honda Fit driven by the woman with no prior criminal record hit and killed paver Raymond Ferguson on the Trans-Canada Hwy. between Kipp and Minetown roads on Sept 23, 2021 at about 11:45 pm.
Evidence outlined at trial showed Ferguson, who was days away from retirement, was hit by Boufford’s windshield, thrown about 30 meters and landed on the highway.
Ferguson was pronounced dead on scene.
Boufford continued south down the two-laned divided highway and rammed into the back of a dump truck.
A memorial remains on the Trans-Canada Hwy. with Raymond Ferguson’s work tools at the scene where his life was fatally cut short. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)Katherine Toews, who was working as a flagger at the overnight paving project, was clipped by the car and sustained fractured ribs.
Thompson added Boufford’s actions “put herself and others in an impossible position when, too late, she appreciated the hazards.”
“Ms. Boufford was inattentive and carried on driving in what was, in the circumstances, a dangerous speed. As a result, her car collided with a vehicle in front of her and thereafter, one of the workers, with tragic consequences.”
Boufford will also be required to complete 180 hours of community service.
Crown Counsel lobbied for four years in jail and a five year driving prohibition, while defence contended a spotless driving history before the incident warranted just under two years living under a conditional sentencing order and a three year driving prohibition.
Thompson said Boufford’s driving record factored in, but was both a positive and negative in his decision.
“On balance, her mature years add to her moral culpability, we expect more with ample life experience. But to some extent her age, or more particularly her 35 years of driving experience cuts both ways. Unlike a young person, she has demonstrated over a long period that she is usually [compliant] to the rules of the road.”
Non-custodial sentences for dangerous driving causing death were unavailable between 2008 and 2022, however were recently reinstituted as an allowable punishment.
Facts of the trial
Prior to hitting the two workers, justice Thompson concluded witness Dwayne Carson was rear-ended by the offender. Carson was one of several on-scene witnesses who testified at trial, including an experienced RCMP collision reconstructionist.
The construction zone speed limit at the time was 60 kilometres per hour, while the trial heard the scene featured ample approaching and on-scene safety indicators of cones, lights and high visibility construction workers.
Justice Thompson concluded Boufford was travelling at least 79 kilometres per hour leading up to the collisions.
“The video evidence allows me to confidently estimate that the Honda was travelling between twice and four times the speed of all other southbound vehicles that moved through the construction zone in the forty minutes before the collisions,” justice Thompson stated during his Aug. 13 decision.
Boufford did not testify at trial, nor did the defence call any witnesses.
Boufford was found not guilty of four alcohol related charges, most notably impaired driving causing death and impaired driving causing bodily harm after justice Thompson ruled that evidence secured by the first RCMP officer on scene was inadmissible.
The responding constable was determined to have made multiple on-scene breaches, as well as at the Nanaimo RCMP detachment, including not properly informing Boufford of her initial detention status.
Boufford pleaded not guilty over a year ago, however her trial was delayed when her attorneys made a partially successful Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms application, leading to the impairment charges not being tested in court.
Justice Thompson ruled the dangerous driving related charges were not compromised, stating he found no reason to discern eyewitness testimony was obtained in a way that infringed Boufford’s rights.
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