Fatal accident in Vallée-Jonction: overloading, truck driver could face criminal charges

The truck driver involved in an accident in Vallée-Jonction on Wednesday exceeded the permitted load on the steep slope where the tragedy took place, according to his contractor. He could face criminal charges, according to the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).

“The truck was transporting a container of grain from the port of Montreal to Sainte-Marie. […] It was legal for the road at 20,268 kilos when it was weighed and inspected in Sainte-Julie,” confides the founder of Transport Verville Ltée, Raymond Verville, to TVA Nouvelles, specifying that the inspection revealed no major problem .

Even if he was authorized to travel on Quebec roads, the driver of the heavy vehicle should never have passed through Boulevard du Cap. It exceeded by more than five tonnes the maximum weight of vehicles authorized to use the 12% slope which ends in a “T” intersection.

The deceased driver was traveling in her car on Route 173 when the overloaded truck going down the steep hill of Route 112 attempted to turn left. The weight of the cargo and the force exerted during the turn caused the heavy goods vehicle to fall backwards onto the car, leaving no chance for its occupant, a 26-year-old young woman from Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce.

Spokeswoman Béatrice Dorsainville of the SQ explains that the driver of the heavy goods vehicle “could face criminal charges” in connection with the tragic event which cost the young woman’s life. No arrests have been made in the case at this time.

Angry family

Shortly after 2:30 p.m. Thursday, the mother of Alexandra Poulin, the victim, visited the scene of the tragedy to pay her respects and place flowers at the bottom of the slope with some relatives in tears.

Between the pain and the anger, she does not intend to sit idly by.

“I will do everything to ensure that this never happens again and that there are never any trucks on this coast again,” explained Nathalie Poulin, determined to act.

A sign of the dangerous nature of the sector, the commercial building located at the bottom of the Cape coast was even moved several meters so as to no longer be in a direct line after at least two accidents there.

Company under conditions

The company whose name appears on the truck, Groupe Verville Intermodal, is a subcontractor of Transport Verville Ltéé. This was the subject of a behavior verification by the Commission des Transports du Québec (CTQ) in March 2024.

After analyzing the evidence and hearing the managers in court, the commissioner in the file, Mr. Frédéric Pagé, changed the transport company’s safety rating from “satisfactory” to “conditional” since it was rated at 20 times for security deficiencies between July 9, 2021 and July 8, 2023.

Raymond Verville, however, released himself from any responsibility for the accident. Although it is lettered in the name of the company, the vehicle “belongs to a subcontracted truck driver” who is himself responsible for maintenance.

Aware of the company’s difficulties in managing the condition of its vehicles, managers hired an inspector responsible for ensuring compliance of the entire fleet.

It must also respect various conditions imposed by the CTQ, such as transmitting preventive maintenance sheets every three months for all its vehicles and its preventive maintenance schedule until July 2026.

According to lawyer Marie-Andrée Gagnon-Cloutier from the office of the president of the commission, the Verville Group has “respected each of the measures imposed by the CTQ since the decision was rendered.” It was also the first offense on the company’s record.

– With the collaboration of Jean-François Racine and TVA Nouvelles