A Prince George provincial court judge agreed Tuesday to reduce a charge of dangerous driving causing death to a significantly lesser offence for the driver in a fatal single-vehicle rollover on Highway 97 near Summit Lake two-and-a-half years ago.
In passing sentence on Douglas Michael Wild, 53, of Chase, Judge Victor Galbraith said he was initially reluctant to agree to a joint submission by Crown prosecution and defence counsel to reduce the count to excessive speeding relative to conditions under the Motor Vehicle Act.
"However after hearing the circumstances of this tragic incident, I do think it's not only appropriate for me to accept the plea but it was entirely an appropriate resolution for the Crown to agree to," Galbraith said.
Wild and his wife, Debra, were traveling back to Chase in their pickup truck on Dec. 27, 2010 after visiting relatives in Edmonton when he attempted to pass a slower-moving vehicle on a straight stretch in the vicinity of Tallus Road, about 50 kilometres north of Prince George.
When the truck lost traction, it moved back into the southbound lane and then over an embankment, rolled over and skidded along its roof in a ditch running alongside the highway before stopping in the snow.
The passenger window and the rear window had broken out, allowing snow into the cab while luggage from the back seat had fallen forward. Wild worked himself free and made his way to the other side where he tried to dig out his wife with his bare hands.
But the snow was like concrete, there was broken glass and "all he had were his fingers," defence lawyer Harold Alkema said. Other drivers came to his aid as they worked to get the snow away from her face but it was not enough and she died of asphyxiation.
However, according to the coroner, her condition was further aggravated by obesity, hypertension and type II diabetes. They had been married for 28 years and were the parents of two grown children and the grandparents of two more at the time of her death.
(Wild's mortgage insurer rejected a subsequent claim because the couple had failed to disclose her diabetes as a pre-existing health concern.)
And although witnesses estimated Wild was traveling at 110 to 120 km/h in a 90 km/h zone at the time, witnesses characterized the conditions as deceptive, with an ambulance driver saying he was confident enough to travel at 120 km/h.
There were winter tires on Wild's truck and although the tread was down to as low as two millimetres, they were still within the legal limit.
As a result, Galbraith agreed to reduce the charge to excessive speeding relative to conditions under the Motor Vehicle Act, saying the incident was due to a "tragic constellation of factors."
And recognizing Wild makes his living as a traveling salesman - he works for a company in Saskatoon but continues to maintain his home in Chase - and has no previous record of major driving offences, Galbraith sentenced him to one year probation that limits his driving only to work related trips, rather than issue an outright one-year driving prohibition.
Wild, who was tearful throughout the proceeding, was also fined $1,000. The maximum sentence for dangerous driving causing death is 14 years.