The vehicle that hit and killed a Winnipeg cyclist who was on his way to work this summer was going more than three times the speed limit, court heard as the man who was behind the wheel pleaded guilty on Wednesday.
People in the packed Winnipeg courtroom gasped as they heard some of the details of the June 6 crash that killed 61-year-old Rob Jenner in a residential area on Wellington Crescent, including that a collision reconstruction analyst who reviewed the scene determined the driver was going at least 159 km/h in a 50 km/h zone.
“Civilian witnesses who observed the collision described the deceased as being thrown no less than 10 feet into the air before his body came to rest just off the roadway,” Crown attorney Matt Dueck told provincial court Judge Sidney Lerner, as an elderly man sitting in the gallery sat with his face in his hands.
Beckham Keneth Severight pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death and failing to stop at the scene. Severight appeared in court virtually from the Headingley Correctional Centre, where he’s being held in custody.
Court heard in an agreed statement of facts that Jenner was travelling safely and responsibly in the curb lane on a route regularly used by cyclists at the time of the crash. He was taken to hospital and pronounced dead as the result of multiple blunt force injuries from the collision.
Jenner’s family previously described him as a “caring husband, father, stepfather, grandpa, son, brother, uncle and friend,” and said he had worked for a decade as a shipper and receiver at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, where he was headed the morning he died.
Ian McCausland, one of many fellow cyclists who filled the courtroom as Severight pleaded guilty, said hearing some of the specific details of the crash for the first time was difficult.
“I think everybody in the bike community has had, you know, their share of close calls, or incidents where they question whether or not their safety is in jeopardy, but this is a whole other level,” McCausland said. “The emotions really are high.”
Driver only had learner’s permit
Court heard Severight, who was 19 years old at the time of his arrest in June and only had his learner’s permit, was driving his 18-year-old roommate’s leased BMW the morning of the collision. While the roommate was in the passenger’s seat and had a valid licence, he wasn’t legally permitted to be a supervising driver.
Dueck said Severight “rapidly accelerated” as he navigated a sweeping curb near Hugo Street. Though both he and his roommate saw Jenner on his bike,Severight lost control of the BMW due to the speed he was going and started skidding as he tried to avoid the crash.
The vehicle’s front bumper hit the bike’s rear tire, throwing the cyclist onto and across the vehicle’s hood before he hit the windshield, court heard.
After the crash, Severight’s roommate told him to keep driving. They travelled a short distance down Wellington Crescent before pulling over so they could switch seats, and left the area without checking to see if Jenner was injured or needed help, Dueck said.
He said the BMW had significant damage from the crash, including a “shattered and caved in” windshield, and left vehicle parts and debris at the scene.
“While travelling back to their residence, the damaged BMW came to the attention of several concerned civilian witnesses who contacted police, providing a licence plate number of the vehicle,” Dueck said, adding the vehicle parts left at the scene matched the information on file for the vehicle registered to the plate number provided.
That led police to the area around Severight and his roommate’s home, where they found the damaged BMW on a nearby street and arrested both men. Severight gave officers a full account of what happened, including that he was driving and “saw green lights and an open roadway, which prompted him to accelerate to a very fast speed,” Dueck said.
Severight’s roommate was charged last month with failing to stop at the scene.
In response to questions from his lawyer Mike Cook, Severight told court he wasn’t blaming the accident on anyone else or on any mechanical problems with the vehicle, and said he understood he may be banned from driving by the court and have his licence reviewed by Manitoba Public Insurance.
He will be sentenced at a later date.