Almost three years to the day after a chain reaction crash on Parkside Drive that killed Valdemar and Fatima Avila, the trial for Artur Kotula, the 38-year-old man charged with two counts of both dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm, has begun.
According to an agreed statement of facts read out in court, Kotula was driving southbound in his 2013 BMW 320i car approaching Spring Road around 4:40 pm. The street, which runs through a residential area, had a speed limit of 50 km/h at the time.
As Kotula approached the intersection with Spring Road, which is controlled with automated traffic lights, southbound traffic was slowing to a stop due to a back-up of heavy rush hour traffic on Lake Shore Boulevard.
Ahead of the BMW were four vehicles travelling in the southbound curb lane of Parkside Drive. Kotula’s BMW moved into the curb lane and struck a Toyota Matrix being driven by Valdemar Avila. His wife Fatima was sitting in the passenger seat. That caused a chain reaction crash. The Avila’s Toyota then struck a Honda CRV which had Celestino Ferreria and his wife Olinda inside, which in turn struck a Dodge Grand Caravan, which in turn struck a GMC Sierra.
Kotula’s BMW mounted the sidewalk and came to a stop when it collided with a hydro pole.
Seventy-one-year-old Valdemar Avila and his wife, 69-year-old Fatima, both succumbed to their injuries, caused by the collision. Kotula was arrested on Nov. 19, 2021. Seventy-one-year-old Celestino Ferreira and his 71-year-old wife Olinda suffered minor injuries.
It is also an agreed fact that Kotula’s Ministry of Transportation (MTO) driving record found that Kotula lost his driver’s licence on March 12, 2020, for medical reasons and it was re-instated on Jan 15, 2021. Further, the MTP registered the driver’s licence suspension for medical reasons dated Oct. 23, 2021. This suspension remains in effect.
Dash camera video recovered from Simon Chong’s northbound vehicle was shown in court which captured the collision between Kotula’s BMW and the Avila’s Toyota. A doorbell camera video was also shown in court which captured the collision from the east side of Parkside Drive looking west.
Det. Const. Andrew Vanderburg, a collision reconstructionist, testified that five seconds prior to the collision, the BMW was travelling 107 km/hr on Parkside Drive and accelerated to 124 km/hr just 2.5 seconds prior to the crash. The BMW then began to decelerate. Vanderburg also said the BMW’s accelerator was depressed 99 per cent until two seconds prior to the collision, at which point the brake pedal was briefly on when the accelerator was only depressed to 36 per cent, before the accelerator was again depressed to 99 per cent.
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Justin Marchand asked if there were any tire marks on the pavement. Vanderburg said no before explaining information from the BMNW’s event data recorder (EDR) suggested the brakes were not applied except for that one-half second. Marchand also asked if there was a lack of reported steering which Marchand agreed with.
“Is it consistent with someone unconscious at the wheel?” queried Marchand. “I can’t get inside someone’s head,” Vanderburg replied. Superior Court Justice Sukhail Akhtar interjected they were speculative questions.
Kotula, who has been in custody since his arrest, has pleaded not guilty.
The judge-alone trial continues.