Its brakes were finished and the tyres worn to the cord

Photo from the archives, Mathieu Wagner
Katy Torres (below) lost his life in a road accident in October 2016. She had used the services of AmigoExpress, a business buddy for the carpool. The car in which it took place was not safe.

Antoine Lacroix

Saturday, 10 February, 2018 23:51

UPDATE
Saturday, 10 February, 2018 23:51

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A passenger died in an accident in 2016 as she was carpooling took a seat in a vehicle equipped with brake “worn out at 100 %” and tires are almost smooth, according to the coroner’s report.

“We must ask : are we waiting for another sad accident to get things moving, or it makes our roads safer now ?” lance Will Navarro, a friend of Katy Torres.

Photo courtesy

Katy Torres

The latter has died in a collision on highway 40 in Saint-Lazare, Montérégie, October 8, 2016.

“The depth of the soles of the tire was 4/32 on the front tires and 0/32 on the rear tires,” wrote the coroner John E. Brochu in its report, released the week, the last adding that the brakes at the rear were ” worn to the maximum “.

You can read on the website of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec as the “minimum acceptable” is 6/32 “in order not to compromise” the safety, even if the law allows 2/32.

The coroner believes that the mechanical inspections required after a certain mileage, and at set intervals, the cars would be effective ” to ensure a better mechanical condition of vehicles circulating on the roads of Quebec “.

No warranty

Katy Torres, the 30-year-old at the time of death, was a doctoral candidate at the University of Ottawa. She didn’t know the driver. It was mounted with the latter in Gatineau, in the direction of Montreal, thanks to AmigoExpress.

On its website, the company twinning stresses that it is the responsibility of the driver to maintain the vehicle in good mechanical condition and check for proper operation.

“The “accountability Charter” enacted by AmigoExpress not in any way guarantee the good mechanical condition of the vehicles that some owners register on the site, ” warns John E. Brochu.

It has been impossible to speak with AmigoExpress Friday. However, the company has indicated to The Press does not have ” the infrastructure or the means to check the background of a driver or mechanical inspection of the vehicle.

The third passenger in the vehicle, who survived the crash, also believes that inspections at regular intervals of the vehicles should be mandatory to reduce the risk that such an accident from happening again.

“Marked forever “

“This report should be a wake-up call to the authorities. It is time to act and change the laws, supports Jezreel Botat, who had been severely injured. Otherwise, Katy will be dead in vain. “

Even if he did not know the victim, the student at the Concordia University argues that it will be ” marked forever by the accident “, so he is still unable to see a photo of Katy Torres. He adds, ” be more than grateful to be alive “.

The family of Katy Torres has preferred not to comment on the report.

► The driver has not been charged in this case, but the file had been forwarded to the Director of criminal and penal prosecutions on the 11th of July last.

Excerpts from the report

“The mechanical inspection of the vehicle in which Ms. Torres Davila was transient revealed that the rear tires were a different dimension from the one of the front tires. “

“According to another passenger […] the vehicle skidded at least three times before the loss of final control. According to this witness, when each of these slips, the rear of the car moved from the left to the right. “

“This passenger has estimated that the car would have had to drive more slowly after the first skid, considering the bad weather [it rained heavily and the floor was wet, one can read in the report]. “