The driver who crashed his vehicle into the side of an A&W restaurant, severely injuring an employee inside, will face only a monetary penalty for his actions.
George Ernest Collins was sentenced for driving without due care and attention in North Vancouver provincial court on Tuesday, where he was ordered to pay $1,500.
The offence under the Motor Vehicle Act carries no criminal record, and 80-year-old Collins will not face a driving ban because he was not found to pose a danger to the public on the road.
Before his actions were deliberated in court, Collins entered a guilty plea for the offence.
Just before noon on March 16, 2024, Collins was stopped at the drive-thru of the A&W at 920 Marine Dr. in North Van when his Subaru Crosstrek suddenly accelerated and crashed into the exterior wall of the fast food restaurant.
A police investigation found that he was reaching for his wallet and either put his foot on the gas instead of the brake, or that his foot slipped, Crown counsel Lisa Dumbrell told the court.
On the other side of the wall, inside the A&W kitchen, was a deep fryer. The vehicle’s impact caused the fryer to move six feet from the wall, and splashed a “tidal wave” of hot oil onto an A&W employee, said Dumbrell, reading from a statement of agreed facts.
That employee was Ruby Punzalan, who was rushed to Lions Gate Hospital with second- and third-degree burns on her body and face.
Collins co-operated with police and a test found no alcohol in his system, Dumbrell said, adding that no defects were found with his vehicle.
Following the incident, Punzalan was put into a medically induced coma for three weeks in the intensive care unit at LGH and then transferred to the trauma centre at Vancouver General Hospital.
Worker describes 'unimaginable pain' in statement
In a victim impact statement dictated by Dumbrell to the court, Punzalan described the “unimaginable pain, physical limitations and emotional suffering” caused by her injuries.
“I feel overwhelming anger, sadness, anxiety and depression,” she said. “The person I was before this injury seems like a distant memory. I grieve the life I had, the confidence I once felt in the person I used to be.
“I fear for my future. Every day, I am terrified of what lies ahead, whether I will ever gain a sense of normalcy, or if I will always be defined by these injuries,” Punzalan wrote.
She also described how her injuries put a strain on personal relationships and caused her to lose career advancement opportunities in her professional life.
In a joint submission to the court, both the Crown and defence agreed that Collins should be fined $1,500 (below the maximum $2,000 penalty) and should not receive a driving ban.
Dumbrell said Collins’s behaviour that caused the incident was “momentary inadvertence.”
“This is not someone who was driving under the influence of narcotics or alcohol. It wasn’t speeding,” she said. “It was a mistake.”
But it wasn’t just a “pure accident” because Collins should have either placed the vehicle in park or turned it off when reaching for his wallet, Dumbrell said.
The Crown had initial concerns about Collins being fit to drive, but those were allayed by a physician’s report, she said.
Judge Peter La Prairie agreed with the joint submission.
“Sentencing for this type of offence is difficult, given the tragic consequences that have occurred and the parameters of sentencing for this type of offence under the Motor Vehicle Act,” he said. “The proposed sentence is consistent with sentences for similar offences of this nature.”
Collins was asked if he wanted to address the court directly but he chose not to.
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