‘Very sad and tragic case’: Judge acquits Lethbridge, Alta., woman in 2023 fatal crash

Jing Tan died in a tragic accident in Lethbridge on Jan. 17, 2023. On Jan. 29, 2025, a judge ruled the driver involved in his death was not guilty of dangerous driving. (Supplied/Martin Brothers Funeral Chapel)

A Lethbridge woman who was accused of two counts of dangerous driving in a 2023 crash that killed a 66-year-old man and seriously injured his wife has been acquitted, a court decision said.

On Jan. 29, Justice P.G. Pharo found Bobbi Raquel Whillans not guilty of both counts, saying the Crown did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that her actions was “a marked departure” from the standard of reasonable driving.

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The court heard on Oct. 24, 2024, that Jing Tam, 66, and his wife Lai Lim were crossing at the intersection of 26 Avenue and 28 Street North in Lethbridge at approximately 2:55 p.m. on Jan. 17, 2023.

Whillans was in the eastbound left turning lane on 26 Avenue and slowed down to navigate the turn and then speeding up.

The court said Whillans had a green light at the intersection and Tam and Lim has a “walk” signal for their crosswalk.

When Whillan drove through the crosswalk, the court said she entered the far lane of 28 Street and struck both pedestrians.

“Ms. Whillans immediately stopped the truck and called for assistance,” Pharo wrote.

“Tan died on the scene as a result of his injuries from the accident. Lim was airlifted to Calgary. She underwent extensive treatment in the hospital and was not discharged until February 10, 2023. She required further therapy and rehabilitation after her discharge.”

According to the agreed statement of facts referenced in the decision, a police investigation into Whillans’ cell phone discovered she unlocked it 17 seconds before the crash and opened her Spotify app 15 seconds before hitting the couple.

Crash recorded on two cameras

The trial also involved an examination of a traffic camera at the intersection and a dash-cam video recorded from Whillans’ truck.

Pharo said that Tam and Lin would have been visible in the crosswalk as Whillans approached the intersection for about five seconds.

“At 10:24 of the DVD, the truck collides with Lim and Tan, who at that point are still in Lane 2 in the crosswalk,” he wrote.

“The driver of the truck should have been able to see them after the grey pickup went by. It does not appear that the truck braked, took evasive action or slowed down before the collision.”

The truck’s dash-cam confirms a “substantial amount of oncoming traffic” on 26 Avenue through the intersection at the time, the court heard, and Pharo said that could have blocked Whillans’ view of the crosswalk.

“From 00:03 until 00:06, which covers the time from when the truck was about halfway into the left turning lane, until it got to the stop line, six vehicles had gone by the truck in the westbound two lanes of 26th Avenue North, each one of which obscured the view of the crosswalk from the truck momentarily,” Pharo said.

By the 00:11 mark of the video, Lim and Tan were visible again, but then immediately obscured by another passing vehicle, a grey pickup truck.

A second later, the truck passed and the crash occurred at the 00:14 mark on the dash-cam video.

Whillans’ testimony

At trial, Whillans testified that she was on a break from work and was heading back to the office when the crash took place.

It was a route she was very familiar with and had driven it many times in the past, Pharo said.

“She testified that before she got to the intersection, she selected the Spotify app on the truck screen and unlocked her phone to press “Play” to listen to the music through the truck sound system,” he wrote.

“Ms. Whillans testified that it took about one second to unlock her phone and took a second to press “Play”. She testified that she did these things to get the sound going before she came up to the intersection.”

She told the court she did not see anyone in the crosswalk and “maintained that she was not distracted at the time of the accident.”

During cross-examination, she admitted there were times the pedestrians could have been seen, but testified she did not see them before the crash.

According to an online obituary, Jing Tan married Lim shortly after immigrating to Canada. The pair settled in Lethbridge where they worked various jobs in restaurants.

He bought the Ciao Mein restaurant in 2006 and worked there until the couple sold it and retired in 2017.

Proving reasonable doubt

To prove reasonable doubt in a dangerous driving offence, Pharo said the Crown must prove that the driver performed a wrongful act under the wrongful state of mind.

“The Crown must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused drove her truck in a manner that when viewed objectively and in regard to all of the circumstances was dangerous to the public,” he wrote.

According to the video evidence, Pharo found that Whillans waited for numerous vehicles to pass before turning and when there was a space in traffic, she made her turn.

“She was legally required to direct her vehicle into the number 1 lane on 28th Street North, but instead she drove toward the number 2 lane. Tan and Lim had just walked into the number 2 lane in the crosswalk at that time.

“Consequently, the truck collided with Tan and Lim in the crosswalk at the front center of the truck.”

Pharo said that Whillans’ act of driving, turning at a busy intersection and passing through a crosswalk at a busy time of day without checking for pedestrians “was objectively dangerous.”

He said the Crown therefore proved the wrongful act in the case.

“This is a very sad and tragic case. Two pedestrians were struck by a vehicle in a crosswalk. One was killed, and the other was very badly hurt. It is not disputed that these two pedestrians were struck because of the negligent driving of Ms. Whillans,” Pharo wrote.

Pharo, however, said prosecutors did not prove Whillans’ actions were a “marked departure” from what a reasonable driver would do in such a situation.

“I consider the failure of Ms. Whillans to check for pedestrians in the few seconds after the last vehicle passes westbound in the intersection, as a singular and hasty mistake that even a prudent driver may commit,” he wrote.

“Ms. Whillans, or a reasonable person, would have been attempting to complete the multiple tasks involved in a left turn within the less than 10-second time frame during the maneuver. This improperly timed turn, failing to check for pedestrians in the seconds of time when the intersection was clear of vehicles and turning into Lane 2, while performing the additional driving tasks necessary, in my view does not rise to the higher threshold of a marked departure from the norm.”