Manitoba's deadliest highway crashes

© 2023, Christian Cassidy

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The tragic bus / truck crash near Carberry, Manitoba last week was likely the deadliest vehicle crash ever to happen on a Manitoba highway. Newspaper archives show that there have been several other terrible highway accidents involving Manitobans. Here's a look back at three of them.

While doing the research for this article, I found a May1980 newspaper article that claimed the deadliest road accident in Canadian history was in August 1978 when 40 disabled people on their way to a theatre outing were killed when their bus plunged into a lake near Eastman, Quebec.


July 3, 1952, Highway 75 near St. Norbert

July 3, 1952, Winnipeg Tribune

Prior to June 2023, what was believed to be the deadliest highway crash on Manitoba roads happened at around 2 a.m. on Thursday, July 3, 1952.

A Northland Greyhound coach was travelling northbound along Highway 75 from the U.S. to Winnipeg when it plowed into the back of a Royal Transportation truck filled with farm machinery stopped on the road. This happened about 18 kilometres south of Winnipeg near St. Norbert.

Eight people were killed and nearly thirty were injured, several of them seriously. Thirteen of the injured were Canadian soldiers coming back from leave.

The Eight Dead:

Bert John Miller (55) and Esther Bessie Miller (53) of Winnipeg
The husband and wife lived at suite J of the Whittier Apartments, 410 Ellice Avenue, where John was caretaker. The couple was originally from Pipestone, Manitoba and were returned there for burial.

Gladys McIntyre (around 40) of Winnipeg
The United Grain Growers clerk who lived in suite 4 of the Lorraine Apartments at 543 Ellice Avenue. was returning from the U.S. after two-week holiday.   

Agnes McHale of Waverley, Minnesota 

Louis Roseman of Minneapolis, Minnesota 

Dorothy Mabel Bundy (54) and Zena Fay Bundy (12) of Troy, Ohio

Levina E. Rice of Delhi, Ontario

July 3, 1952, Winnipeg Tribune

On such a busy highway, which was not twinned in those days, there was traffic even at 2 a.m.. The first to see the accident was another Greyhound bus travelling southbound. Its driver radioed for help and further down the highway crossed over to the northbound lane so that the vehicle could come back and shelter survivors. By the time it reached the scene, a couple of motorists had already stopped at the scene and were helping those they could.

Within the hour, doctors, ambulances, police cars, and hearses began to arrive.

The fact that the bus was a heavy-duty highway coach meant that most passengers remained within the vehicle during the accident and it took many hours for first responders to extricate them from between crumpled seats and other debris with acetylene torches.

Five of the dead were found squeezed into a small area at the front right side of the bus. Both the driver and little Zena were thrown through the shattered windshield onto the road. George Doyle, a 23 year old Canadian soldier, was in his seat wedged between two dead bodies for two hours while he waited for rescuers to cut away at the twisted metal to release him.

A Tribune night reporter who was at the scene wrote that "it was a night of horror and no one who was there - event as a spectator - will ever forget it."

AP wire photo, July 3, 1952

Both drivers survived and were eventually able to tell police their stories.

The driver of the truck, 22-year-old Joseph Sopko of Charleswood, said that he had been transporting farm machinery north to Winnipeg in a Royal Transportation truck that night when a bolt broke on one of his right rear wheels and it came off the truck. He tried to repair it but the wheel started coming off again further down the road.

After the second incident, Sopko decided to wait until morning to fix it. He set off three highway flares on the road behind his stricken truck and climbed into the cab to take a nap. He did not pull onto the shoulder due to its steep grade as he thought the truck with its problem wheel might tip over into the ditch.

While this was happening, Greyhound driver Robert Stavos, 30, of Crookston, Minnesota, crossed the U.S. / Canada border and was heading north to Winnipeg. He was running almost an hour late and was travelling at about 80 kilometres per hour.

Stavos said that he did not see any flares, only the truck in the lane when it was just a couple of bus lengths away. He didn't have time to take corrective actions.

July 7, 1952, Winnipeg Free Press

The first of the official hearings into the crash was the coroner's inquiry under Chief Coroner Dr. I. O. Fryer. Both drivers were held under a coroner’s warrant as material witnesses and released on bond.

The first phase of the inquest took place on Saturday afternoon after the crash once the bodies had all been identified. The names of the dead were read into the record and the hearing was adjourned until  July 18th in Winnipeg.

The coroner's jury exonerated Sopko the truck driver as his actions fell within the Highway Traffic Act. Stavos the bus driver came under a great deal more scrutiny.

The speed at which Stavos said he was travelling was questioned as was the existence of road flares behind the truck. Some other drivers testified they had seen flares and an RCMP officer who helped clean up the scene said he collected three burned out flares amongst the debris on the highway.

In his defence, Stavos said he was dealing with oncoming traffic, including a bus, in the next lane just before the accident. He testified:  "I dimmed my lights, he dimmed his. Suddenly I noticed an object in front of me. I tried to swerve left but I was too close by that time". He was adamant that "There were no lights on the back of the truck and I saw no flares."

The coroner's jury found Stavos at fault for the accident, ruling that "Cause of the accident was a momentary distraction on the part of Stavos occurring when he acknowledged an oncoming southbound bus salute by dimming his lights."

Brandon Sun, July 19, 1952

As soon as the inquest ended, RCMP moved in and charged Stavos with criminal negligence. He was released on $10,000 bail and his trial started on December 18, 1952 and lasted barely two days.

Again, the flares were the major issue with the truck driver saying he set three of them around the truck and other drivers on the road that night testifying that they saw them on the road. The bus driver maintained that he did not see flares and a passenger on the bus who said he was awake and looking out for the lights of St. Norbert testified he saw the headlights from oncoming traffic but didn't notice the flares.

Once the witnesses had been heard, Judge C. B. Philip asked the Crown if it would be willing to stay the charge of criminal negligence and he would rule on the charge of driving in a manner dangerous to the public. The Crown agreed and Stavos was sentenced to four months in Headingley Jail.

The estate of Bert and Esther Miller went after Northland Greyhound and Robert Stavos in Court of Queens Bench seeking damages of $100,000. They were awarded $5,000 in March 1954 but appealed. In January 1955, they were awarded double the amount.



October 9, 1952, rural road near Warren, Manitoba

October 10, 1952, Winnipeg Tribune

Remarkably, a second road accident happened later in 1952 that almost equalled the Highway 75 disaster for the number of deaths.

On October 9, 1952, at around 6 p.m. on a rural road four kilometres north of Warren, Manitoba, two cars, a Chevrolet and a Pontiac, crashed killing seven people. The carnage was so bad with car parts and bodies strewn across the road and ditch that RCMP couldn't say for sure which direction each car was travelling in. The Chevrolet's engine was found in the front seat of the Pontiac.

Six people were found dead at the scene and a seventh died a few days later in hospital.

The Seven Dead

David Gall (60) of Winnipeg
The driver of the Cehvrolet and a retired captain with Winnipeg Fire Department

John Millar (70) of Winnipeg
A retired fireman from the Winnipeg Fire Department

J. H. G. Ross (70) of Winnipeg
A former foreman with the City of Winnipeg's parks board

James Henderson (68) of Arglyle
A former Winnipeg fireman who retired to Argyle to farm

Alfred Vincent of Stony Mountain
Worked for the engineering department of City Quarries

Edwin Vincent of Stony Mountain
Son of Alfred, a world War II veteran who worked at the penitentiary

Robert Vincent (29) of Stony Mountain

October 15, 1952, Stonewall Argus

The Chevrolet was full of men with ties to the Winnipeg Fire Department, all of whom died. It is believed they were staying at the Argyle farmhouse of former fireman James Henderson and drove together to visit another friend in Warren. The four men were good friends and were known to travel together on road trips.

The Pontiac had members of the Vincent family who were likely returning to their home at Stoney Mountain after a hunting trip. Only a family friend, Elmer Ashworth of Elm Grove, and a five-year-old child, Robert Vincent Jr., survived the crash.

The Stonewall Argus wrote, “A pall of gloom fell over our district Thursday evening when news of the tragic accident became known.”

A coroner's inquest was started by Dr. W. F. Eveyln so that the identities of the dead could be read into the record and the bodies released to family members. There are no follow-up stories as to further hearings. With no eye witnesses and just one adult survivor, it is likely that the events of that tragic evening were never pieced together.



May 28, 1980, Trans Canada Highway near Swift Current SK

May 29, 1980, Lethbridge Herald

Prior to June 2023, what may have been the deadliest road accident for Manitobans took place 32 kilometers east of Swift Current, Saskatchewan at around 2:30 pm on Wednesday, May 28, 1980

A chartered school bus carrying around 30 members of a CP Rail construction crew was returning the men to their accommodation car near Webb, Saskatchewan when an oncoming car with Ontario licence plates crossed the centre lane forcing the bus onto the shoulder of the highway. It sideswiped the car, went off the road and rolled.

Travelling behind the bus was a tanker truck loaded with nearly 30,000 litres of boiling asphalt. Its driver tried to avoid the accident but also ended up off the road after hitting the shoulder. It clipped the bus as it passed, spilled its load, and caught fire.

The 22 men killed were all CP Rail employees from the bus. (It was originally reported that 23 people had died, but it was later discovered that two of the bodies counted were actually one that had been severed.)  The driver of the bus, truck and two occupants of the car survived. A second bus with additional CP Rail employees stayed on the road.

Eleven of the dead were from Newfoundland, nine from Manitoba, and one each from Ontario and Nova Scotia.

The Dead Manitobans

Mark Berard (20) of Horace Avenue, Winnipeg
Single, survived by six sisters and three brothers.

Michael Beach (24) of Oxford Street, Winnipeg
Single, survived by his parents and three sisters. He worked on the CP steel gang for seven years.

Robert Reimer (22) of Rosenort, Manitoba
Single, survived by two brothers and a sister. It was his second summer working for the railway.

Kevin Tanner (22) of Johnson Avenue, Winnipeg
 
Walter Tanner (20) of Johnson Avenue, Winnipeg

Bernie Gosselin (24) of St. Malo, Manitoba
Single, survived by his parents and a brother.

Peter May (19) of Swan River, Manitoba
Single, survived by his parents and a brother and sister. He worked for the railway for six weeks.

William Lemon (23) of Swan River, Manitoba
Single, survived by two brothers and three sisters. He worked for the railway for about four years.

Lesley Ducharme (38) of MacGregor, Manitoba
Married father, survived by his wife and two daughters aged 13 and 11. He worked for the railway for about three years.

May 29, 1980, Winnipeg Tribune

Eleven others were injured, most were in stable condition, some with burns from the asphalt, and were taken to hospitals around the region.

The chassis of the bus was ripped away in the accident leaving just the floor and seats and men were strewn over a long distance. Rescuing or recovering those closest to what was left of the bus was impossible as it took over two hours to extinguish the burning asphalt.

When all the bodies had been recovered they were sent to an arena in Swift Current and pathologists were brought in to perform the autopsies. It was revealed during the coroner's inquest that 21 of the 22 victims were found to have died from severe trauma caused by the bus crash rather than burned to death.

May 29, 1980, Lethbridge Herald

At the coroner's inquest, which took place in stages in early June as survivors were released from hospital, the owner of the car said that he and a friend were taking turns driving from Hamilton to Vancouver. The friend was driving at the time of the accident and the owner had dozed off only to be awakened by the jolt of the crash.

The men stopped earlier at the Swift Current Legion for lunch and a couple of drinks before heading off. How intoxicated the driver of the car was came up later in the coroner's inquest. In the mayhem following the crash, police waited hours to administer a blood alcohol test and the man passed with a level of 0.01. It was felt that if the test had been administered around the time of the accident, he would have been near the restricted level of 0.08.

August 9, 1980, Winnipeg Free Press

The coroner's inquest wrapped up on August 8, 1980, after the equivalent of six days of testimony. The jury found no one person or item at fault but made a series of recommendations to prevent future accidents of the sort.

Some had to do with improvements to "school type" bus safety, such as strengthening the chassis and the addition of energy absorbing seats and seat belts. It also recommended that all drivers of these types of buses need a Class 1 licence, (at the time only drivers transporting students needed a Class 1 licence, when used on private charters these buses only required a regular Class 5 license.)

It came out during testimony that the bus driver had only five hours of sleep and drove almost 1,000 kilometres in the 24 hours before the crash. It was recommended that transport companies review their workload policies for work charters.

The jury also felt that drinking and driving laws needed to be strengthened and that the law should require drivers to have to take a blood alcohol test immediately after an accident.

There was also a recommendation that the Trans Canada Highway from Swift Current to the Alberta border be twinned.

Coroner's juries were not allowed to assign guilt or lay charges, but police and the Crown usually stepped in once the inquest was completed if they felt the need to do so.

In this case, however, charges were not laid against the driver of the car due to a lack of evidence that he was impaired.  One Saskatchewan lawyer told a reporter anonymously that "I guess it will go down as an accident - bizarre, tragic and unacceptable - but an accident nonetheless."

A memorial was erected at the site by Teamsters Canada in 2018 to mark the 40th anniversary of the accident.